5 findings on Brexit's anticipated effect on NHS

Before Britain voted to leave the European Union, those who opposed the "Brexit" argued there would be numerous financial consequences for operating in the United Kingdom, while those who supported Britain's departure purported that money saved in EU dues could be reallocated to the National Health Service, Britain's national healthcare system.

Now that Brexit has occurred, Peer60 sought to find out what those who work for the NHS think will happen as a result. Peer60, a market research and survey platform, received direct feedback from 238 hospital leaders in 129 acute trusts — organizations within the NHS that serve either a geographical area or a specialized function — about the consequences of Brexit. These results comprise feedback from 73 percent of NHS hospital trusts.

Here are five findings from the Peer60 report.

1. Demographics. Hospital physician leaders comprised the biggest subset of survey respondents (18 percent), followed by physicians and IT leaders (both 16 percent), department managers (14 percent), systems managers (9 percent), operations leaders (8 percent), CEOs (7 percent) and finance leaders (6 percent). A quarter of respondents came from North England, a quarter were from the Midlands and East, 21 percent were from London, 18 percent were from South England, 4 percent were from Wales, 4 percent were from Scotland and 3 percent were from Northern Ireland.

2. The overall effect of Brexit on NHS. The Leave campaign, in favor of Brexit, argued funds saved from EU dues could be used to fund the NHS, but hospital leaders indicated they don't believe any additional savings would outweigh the costs of running a hospital in a post-EU era. More than half of respondents — 64 percent — said the Brexit will have a negative overall impact on NHS, while 23 percent were neutral and 13 percent believed it will have a positive impact.

3. The overall funding effect. Most NHS hospital leaders believe Brexit will hurt the finances of their trusts. "There will be no new funding for NHS on the back of Brexit," one respondent wrote, according to the report. "In fact the recession may cause further clawbacks in health." Sixty-one percent of respondents said they believe the Brexit will have an overall negative financial impact, while 21 percent believe any effects will be neutral and 18 percent believe it will have a positive financial impact.

4. Staffing effects. Protecting British jobs from incoming immigrants was a key element of the Leave campaign. However, while workers often worry about losing their jobs to immigrants, hospital executives and other leaders often view immigrants as a source of talented, cost-effective staff. Brexit will reduce people's ability to immigrate to Britain from the rest of the EU, and hospital leadership is wary of the impact this will have on staffing. A vast majority of respondents — 76 percent — said Brexit will have negative staffing impacts, 20 percent said the effects will be neutral and 4 percent said they will be positive.

5. IT solution spending. Many hospital leaders believe funding for healthcare IT will go down as a result of Brexit, with 44 percent of respondents projecting IT upgrades to be delayed. Just over half — 51 percent — are neutral on the matter, and 5 percent anticipate they will upgrade IT more often.

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