‘Doesn’t Brexit matter?’ NHS chief put on spot as he claims most staff aren’t from the EU
NHS chief Simon Stevens insisted a “small proportion” of NHS staff are from other parts of the European Union (EU), prompting him to be asked whether Brexit mattered.
NHS chief put on spot as he claims most staff aren’t from the EU
Mr Stevens claimed the NHS was not over-reliant on workers from the Brussels bloc and had depended on foreign staff from across the world.
Speaking on Channel 4, the chief executive of NHS England said the aim was to boost the number of Britons training as doctors and nurses.
Presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy asked the NHS head what the impact of Britain would be on the health sector.
Simon Stevens said a "small proportion" of NHS workers came from other parts of the EU
As it happens, we have a relatively small proportion of NHS staff from the rest of the European Union
“The problem is, with Brexit, you’re going to have difficulties bringing in European doctors," he said. "Many European doctors left Britain in 2016. What is going to be the impact of Brexit on the NHS?”
Mr Stevens suggested bringing in doctors from the EU was not an issue.
He replied: “As it happens, we have a relatively small proportion of NHS staff from the rest of the European Union.
"We have always relied on international staff from the rest of the world as well as the EU, but we’ve also got to increase the number of people from Britain that we take on to training as doctors and nurses and other disciplines.”
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Dismissing the question, Mr Stevens stated a well-funded NHS had always depended on a “well-performing UK economy”.
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Meanwhile, Mr Stevens announced longer waits are expected for hip and knee replacements, cataract removal and hernia operations as a “trade off” for improvement in other areas, such as hitting the four-hour A&E target and better cancer care.
The Top NHS boss previously claimed leaving the EU would put the lives of 3,000 cancer patients at risk.
He said a Brexit vote would be "dangerous" for the NHS and would starve the service of essential funding.