Health

Tuesday 21st November 2017 Ministerial Corrections

Leaving the EU: Health and Social Care

The following are extracts from Questions to the Secretary of State for Health on 14 November 2017.

[Chris Stephens (Glasgow South West) (SNP)]

7. What recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on the health and social care sector.

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

20. What recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on the health and social care sector.

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr Philip Dunne)]

We are fully engaged with the highest level of Government work on Brexit. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is a member of the Cabinet Committee on Brexit, and he is engaged on all areas where Brexit may impact the health and social care sector.

[Official Report, 14 November 2017, Vol. 631, c. 139.]



Letter of correction from Mr Dunne.



An error has been identified in the answer I gave to the hon. Members for Glasgow South West (Chris Stephens) and for Linlithgow and East Falkirk (Martyn Day).



The correct answer should have been:

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr Philip Dunne)]

We are fully engaged with the highest level of Government work on Brexit. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is invited to attend the Cabinet Committee on Brexit, and he is engaged on all areas where Brexit may impact the health and social care sector.

[Chris Stephens]

Is the Minister aware of the latest figures released this month by the Nursing & Midwifery Council? The figures confirm a clear trend: an 11% increase in the number of UK-trained nurses and midwives leaving the register, alongside an 89% drop in those coming to work in the UK from Europe. Does the Minister agree with the chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing that

“These dramatic figures should set alarm bells ringing in Whitehall and every UK health department”?

[Mr Dunne]

It is the case that we have been reliant for much of the increase in clinicians in this country on doctors and nurses coming from the EU, so a reduction in that increase is something we are watching carefully. I gently say to the hon. Gentleman that the last figures we have show that, as of the end of June, there were 3,193 more clinicians working in the NHS in England than there were in June 2016.

[Official Report, 14 November 2017, Vol. 631, c. 139.]

Letter of correction from Mr Dunne.

An error has been identified in the answer I gave to the supplementary question asked by the hon. Member for Glasgow South West (Chris Stephens).

The correct answer should have been:

[Mr Dunne]

…I gently say to the hon. Gentleman that the last figures we have show that, as of the end of June, there were 3,193 more clinicians from the EU working in the NHS in England than there were in June 2016.