Impact of leaving the European Union on health and social care in Scotland

The Health and Sport Committee will consider what the NHS and social care in Scotland could look like post-Brexit with a focus on how potential risks could be mitigated and potential opportunities could be realised.

Our Fellows have particularly expressed concerns relating to recruitment and workforce sustainability in health and social care. This has the potential to impact across multiple settings (hospital, general practice, community health delivery and social care). Recruitment of EU healthcare professionals, particularly doctors and nurses is likely to be more difficult at least in the short term due to the introduction of new eligibility processes and uncertainty about ongoing status and longer term opportunities.