According to the Nuffield Trust, the cost of Brexit to the NHS and social care system would be higher still if the numbers of nurses and care workers currently coming to the UK from Europe fell. If the scheme ended and was not replaced and those people returned to the UK, their care would cost about £979m annually. Nurses coming from Europe have been filling the gap – 22,000 now work in the English NHS. “The NHS and social care were already under pressure from tight funding settlements and growing staffing problems well before the EU referendum last year. “That depends largely on the NHS being recognised as a significant priority as we enter some of the most important negotiations in Britain’s history”.

Source: The Guardian May 30, 2017 22:52 UTC