Top health officials are “very close to panic” as Brexit approaches, according to the chief executive of one of the country’s leading hospitals.
Professor Marcel Levi, of University College London Hospitals, said there had been a marked change of tone from NHS England and the Department of Health about the NHS’s preparedness for leaving the EU on March 29.
UCLH chiefs say they will invoke “major incident” procedures if the UK crashes out with no deal and medical supplies, staffing and patient safety are jeopardised. The trust said the number of its EU staff leaving had exceeded those joining for the first time.
Professor Levi, inset, told a UCLH board meeting last week he had previously received weekly communications from NHS officials and the Department of Health and Social Care that “you don’t have to worry about Brexit, that everything will be taken care of”.
But he said: “That completely changed two weeks ago to almost daily communications which are very close to panic.” Hospital chiefs have been ordered by NHS officials not to “crash the system” by hoarding medical supplies. Instead, medicines and medical supplies and devices are being gathered centrally.
Professor Levi said Brexit preparations were being “aligned” with UCLH’s normal procedures for an emergency.
“Though we all hope and think all this is unnecessary, it’s impossible not to do anything,” he said. “We normally have a stock of four to six weeks for most medication. That gives us a little bit of time to see what is going to happen. For medical supplies, we only have a stock of one to two days.”
Asked if March 29 was akin to the “Millennium bug” of January 1, 2000, UCLH chief nurse Flo Panel-Coates said: “We are preparing for all sorts of instances. If that happens we will invoke a major incident.”
The Government said its communication with hospitals had been “reasonable and proportionate”. Guidance to the NHS on a “no-deal” scenario was first published last August, followed by advice on protecting supply chains in October. Last month, new guidance was issued on medical devices and equipment. A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said that “we are preparing for every eventuality as we exit the EU”.
