BMA safety and cost fears over no deal Brexit

The UK is due to withdraw from the European Union on 29 March next year, but the deadline for agreeing a final deal is next month. There are fears the UK could fall out of the EU without a deal.

In August, the government issued briefings advising sectors on what to do should that happen – it insisted it was still seeking a deal and the briefings were issued as a precaution.

In the health sector, trusts, GPs and pharmacies were advised against stockpiling medicines, although pharmaceutical companies were asked to hold supplies for six weeks on top of their usual stock levels.

The BMA said without a deal, reciprocal healthcare agreements could end, disrupting patient care and increasing insurance costs.

If 190,000 UK pensioners currently living abroad and signed up to the S1 reciprocal healthcare entitlement scheme returned to the UK, this could cost between £500m and £1bn a year.

The NHS could have to source radioisotopes from outside Euratom, which oversees their import from other European countries. This could delay cancer diagnoses and treatments.

A return to a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic could affect patients who currently travel across the border to receive care. And fewer EU doctors could choose to work in the NHS if there is uncertainty over immigration status and confusion over recognition of medical qualifications.

The BMA has backed a public vote on the final deal. Its council chair, Chaand Nagpaul, said: ‘No deal could have potentially catastrophic consequences for patients, the health workforce, services and the nation’s health. Some will say we are scaremongering by warning of the dangers of a no deal Brexit, but this is not the case. We aren’t shying away from being honest about what is at stake for health services if the UK and the EU fail to reach a deal.’