Brexit
is having a significant impact on every sector in the UK such as corporate,
education, service and healthcare. There are substantial implications of Brexit
on health and social care as well.
Britain
has avoided clashing with the European Union by increasing the deadline of the
negotiation period twice. But still, several issues remain without a solution.
Especially on the work staff front, Brexit is likely to cause a shortage of the
workforce in Britain.
In
addition to this ongoing debate in the parliament, uncertainty about some of
the major decisions is becoming a contributing factor for all the chaos. The
department of health and social care has published guidelines for
organizations. They have created a national operational response center to lead
the following stands of health and service care industry.
Factors
affecting the Healthcare industry during Brexit:
• Staffing
Across
the National Health Services (NHS) trusts, there is a shortage of nearly
100,000 people, including medical practitioners, nurses and allied health
professionals. The vacancies in the healthcare industries are rising at an
increasing rate.
Currently,
1 of 10 social workers’ and 1 of 11 care workers’ role is unidentified in the
industry. The only solution that can try to resolve these vacancies is
International recruitment. Brexit will have an impact on the ability of the NHS
to successfully fulfill these needs.
A few other workforce issues need to be addressed, including:
1. The additional cost factors for the NHS for
requiring sponsor visas.
2. An update of employment law according to
the guidelines provided by the NHS.
3. Mutual recognition of qualification needs
to increase.
• Treatment access inside and outside the country
In
the current situation, the EU gives the UK citizens access to health care
services in the EU and vice versa.
Every
citizen who belongs to the European Union has an access card, which is known as
the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). This card gives access to every
necessary healthcare and medical service.
Both
the ends of the Brexit negotiations have agreed to preserve the right of every
citizen to avail medical health care right until the end of the transition
period. But until the outcome of the negotiation becomes a clear picture,
everything is just a theory.
In
case the negotiation comes to a dead-end, the main goal of the government will
be to protect and preserve the rights of the citizens with regards to the
healthcare and social care services.
• Regulations
There
are several regulations which come under the rules of the healthcare industry.
1. The Regulation of Medicine
EU
has a homogenized approach for every member of the European Union. The UK is
currently a part of the centralized authorization system for medical
regulations known as the European Medical Agency (EMA) which has now been
replaced by Amsterdam and the participants of EU medical regulatory network
(EMRA).
2. Competition Law
The
impact of the EU competition and acquisition laws of NHS are controversial.
Although a combination of all the rules and acts advocate in favor of the
regulatory actions of the healthcare industry, it can only be regulated to a
certain extent. However, leaving the EU will allow policymakers to modify these
arrangements and other relevant contracts.
3. The working time Directive
The
UK government has signified their intentions of making changes in the current
working time directives. According to the law of the EU, the working time of
employees should be about 48 hours each week.
According
to the latest Brexit News, Britain can evaluate the domestic legislation to
modify this amendment. The current government has been committed to preserving
the working directives after the UK leaves the EU. This, in turn, will result
in the Brexit impact on the healthcare industry being more significant.
• Cross Border Cooperation:
1. Public Health
The
health legislation for different areas, such as the healthcare industry
alcohol, tobacco, smoking, the effect of radiation, housing standards as well
as chemicals is drawn from relevant directives in the EU legislation.
2. Research
The
most elite and educated members from academic, pharmaceutical and medical
backgrounds are concerned that Brexit is going to have a significant impact.
Moreover, they posit that the impact can be harmful as well as positive. The
researchers in the UK have warned that Brexit can be a disaster for the
research and development spheres of the country.
3. Clinical Trials
Clinical
trials for some of the drugs are carried out in the UK, under the legislation
of the EU. This can cause several problems like:
a. A negative impact on the status of a UK
based patient who is participating
in multinational clinical trials of EU.
b. Recruitment issues for new clinical trials,
especially for some rare diseases or pediatric illnesses.
c. The increasing confusion and stress for the
clinical trial sponsors if two different systems are getting operated in the UK
and EU.
The
Brexit is going to have both- a positive as well as a negative impact on the UK
as well as the EU. The information above gives you a little peek at the Brexit Scenarios. To all the people who are working in the healthcare industry, keep
an eye on every Brexit news from now onwards.
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