Preparing health and social services for a no-deal Brexit in Wales

Key points

• The Welsh NHS Confederation continues to support our members, the seven Health Boards, three NHS Trusts and Health Education and Improvement Wales, in collaboration with other healthcare organisations to ensure cross-sector planning for a possible no-deal scenario.
• The sector is doing everything it can to manage and prepare health and social care services for a no-deal Brexit. Contingency plans have been put in place and have been rigorously tested and reviewed. However, all our preparations will not prevent the possible disruption that could be caused by leaving the EU without a deal.
• Current contingency plans have been designed to ensure health and care services continue to deliver the care people need. The sector is confident that preparations in place are robust and will allow the service to maintain a high standard of care, ensuring patient safety isn’t compromised.
• However, no-deal relies on more than the NHS getting their preparations right for contingency plans to be effective. The NHS and social care sector have been working closely with the Welsh Government and Local Resilience Forums to make sure there is a robust a position for whatever Brexit comes our way.
• We value all EU/EEA nationals working in the health service and the contribution they make, not just as professionals, but to our communities. We have been raising awareness of the Settles Status Scheme to ensure that EU citizens working within the service are aware of the Scheme and apply if they wish to do so.
• There are other key areas which we will continue to prioritise while we exit the European Union, including reciprocal healthcare arrangements and patients and workers’ rights.
• Further detail around the Brexit contingency preparations can be found in our publication: Brexit Preparedness Toolkit.