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Feature Briefing

How will Brexit affect the healthcare workforce?

BMJ 2020; 371 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m4439 (Published 17 November 2020) Cite this as: BMJ 2020;371:m4439

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Brexit won't deter the Irish

Dear Editor,

As we gingerly ease ourselves into this post-Brexit era, the potential impact on the NHS workforce remains to be seen. Allowing for some inaccuracy in the data surrounding the breakdown of nationalities within the NHS, approximately 4% of the NHS workforce is comprised of staff who define themselves as EU nationals (1). Within that, Irish healthcare workers alone account for 25% of EU citizens working in the NHS.

Van Schalkwyk muses whether the UK will continue to be an attractive place for EU doctors to work post-Brexit – paying particular heed to Northern Ireland, “which draws on the same labour market for health workers as the Republic of Ireland”. I foresee little change in the immigration trends of Irish healthcare workers and expect that the proportion of the NHS workforce comprised of Irish nationals will remain stable at 1%. In the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in May 2019, the Irish and UK Governments confirmed their commitment to maintain the Common Travel Area (CTA), which pre-dates and is exclusive of EU membership for both countries, and which allows Irish and British citizens to enjoy the right to travel, live, and work between Ireland and the UK as before (2).

As a junior doctor currently working in Ireland, Brexit has not noticeably churned up new obstacles that may deter me or my colleagues from relocating to the UK. The continued free movement of citizens between Ireland and the UK, our shared language, the similarity in our training programmes, and the close proximity of our countries continues to make the UK a desirable workplace for Irish medical graduates – all of which allows for the proportion of the NHS workforce comprised of Irish nationals to remain stable at 1%.

1. 1. Baker C. NHS staff from overseas: statistics [Internet]. House of Commons Library. 2021 [cited 19 January 2021]. Available from: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk

2. Living and Working [Internet]. Gov.ie. 2021 [cited 19 January 2021]. Available from: https://www.gov.ie

Competing interests: No competing interests

19 January 2021
Orla Harney
Doctor
Cork, Ireland
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