Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to ensure that the UK's withdrawal from the EU does not adversely affect the number of medical professionals entering the UK to work in the NHS in (a) interventional radiology and (b) other understaffed positions.

The Department continues to monitor and analyse overall staffing levels across the National Health Service and adult social care, and we are working across Government to ensure there will continue to be sufficient staff to deliver the high quality services on which patients rely following the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union.

On 8 December the UK and EU Commission reached an agreement which delivered on the Prime Minister’s number one priority, to safeguard the rights of people who have built their lives in the UK and EU, following the UK’s exit from the EU.

The latest nationality statistics show as at March 2018 4,558 more EU nationals excluding the UK (EU27) employed in NHS trusts and Clinical Commissioning Groups than in June 2016.

The agreement will guarantee the rights of the 158,000 EU nationals working in our health and care system. It means that EU citizens living lawfully in the UK and UK nationals living lawfully in the EU by 29 March 2019 will be able to stay and enjoy broadly the same rights and benefits as they do now.

In addition to this, my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department (Sajid Javid) recently announced that doctors and nurses have been removed from the Tier 2 visa cap, meaning the NHS will be able to recruit to understaffed medical positions.