Around 4,000 fewer European doctors are working in the NHS than expected following the 2016 Brexit vote, according to new analysis. The Nuffield Trust health think tank said its research showed 37,035 doctor specialists from the EU and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members - Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Lichtenstein - were working in the NHS in 2021.
That is compared to pre-Brexit forecasts of 41,321. The Nuffield Trust, which carried out the research on behalf of The Guardian, said it was "unarguable" that the registration of European doctors “was slower in the years after 2016 than the years before”.
It comes as figures from the NHS show there are 10,582 FTE medical vacancies across England alone. Nuffield Trust researcher Martha McCarey, the lead author of the analysis, told The Guardian the drop-off in EU-trained medics seeking to work in the UK could be a result of extra bureaucracy and higher costs following Brexit.
She said: “Since the referendum campaign, greater costs, more paperwork and uncertainty over visas because of Brexit have been among the biggest barriers to recruiting and keeping EU and EFTA doctors.”
When divided into specialties, the analysis shows the NHS has 394 fewer EU/EFTA anaesthetists, 369 fewer cardiothoracic surgeons, 288 fewer paediatricians and 165 fewer psychiatrists than if pre-Brexit trends had been maintained. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it rejected the Nuffield Trust’s findings.
A spokesperson for the DHSC said: “This analysis is inaccurate and we don’t recognise or agree with its key conclusions. We are making significant progress in training and recruiting a record number of nurses, doctors and healthcare professionals.
“There are over 9,000 more nurses working in the NHS and there are over 26,000 more hospital doctors now than in 2016.”
