Union say impact assessment of EU-national dependency at NHS should be made public

In OnTheWight‘s report on Tuesday, following work with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, it was revealed that the Isle of Wight NHS Trust is heavily dependent on EU nationals for their specialist medical staff.

This was confirmed later in the week by the NHS Trust, who stated that a quarter of medical staff are EU nationals (nationals of other EU countries).

GMB: Dependency is of ‘grave concern’
In response to the news a spokesperson from the GMB told OnTheWight,

“Residents of the Isle of Wight should not have to see the IW NHS suffer a potentially severe level of detriment in comparison to some other areas of the country due to the proposed new two tier immigration system and the short sightedness of those addressing Brexit.
“When you have the chief executive of NHS Employers Danny Mortimer stating that recruitment from the EU has “plummeted” and that “if the numbers of nurses continued to fall waiting times would go up dramatically” it is of grave concern.”

GMB: Impact assessment should be made public
He went on to say,

“People on the Isle of Wight would rightfully expect at an absolute minimum, the maintaining of current standards provided by NHS IOW.

“They certainly do not wish to see to see services having to be cut by a pressurised trust management who will have have to address a serious set of circumstances beyond their control.
“With such detail becoming available it is only right that IOW NHS Trust and representatives of NHS England prepare a Trust specific impact assessment based on current available detail.
“Once this detail is generated it needs to be presented openly to the public and a case for support presented directly to Government by affected groups seeking at a very minimum the protection of current services for Isle of Wight residents and support for the already overstretched Trust and its employees.”

HealthwatchIW: Future unclear
Joanna Smith from Healthwatch Isle of Wight said,