NHS Confederation - House of Commons Health Committee Brexit report right to put health 'front and centre'

1 May 2017 11:31 AM

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation and a member of the Cavendish Coalition, responded to the House of Commons Health Committee report on Brexit and health and social care

"This is a welcome report, which highlights how important it will be to sort out a wide range of health-related issues in the Brexit negotiations. 

"We rely on staff from Europe, who make a fantastic contribution to health and care services throughout the UK -  indeed, we could not manage without them. It is therefore vital, as the Committee argues, that we end the current uncertainty about their status, and the anxiety it is causing to them and their families, as well as employers. 
  
"The Committee is also right to call for a streamlined process for recruiting health and care staff from overseas, and to make clear that criteria should not just be about pay – it is about valuing public service and being able to recruit the staff we need to deliver safe, compassionate and high-quality care.

"Likewise, as we leave the EU, we need to sort out vital areas, such as medical research, public health and access to medicines. That is why the Committee is right to put health ‘at the front and centre of the British negotiating priorities’.

"The Committee has identified a range of issues that need to be resolved, some of which have not had the attention they deserve, such as the need for reciprocal healthcare arrangements for the thousands of UK citizens living in other EU countries and EU citizens living here."

View report:  Brexit and health and social care