7. Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services: Brexit — The Risks for the Future of Health and Social Care in Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:29 pm on 26 June 2018.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 5:29, 26 June 2018

Thank you for all the questions. I want to reiterate that the Welsh Government continues to support our life sciences sector, research and innovation and we're working practically to see how we can participate in the future rounds of collaboration across Europe. That's a really significant risk for us. We're actually doing very well in terms of research collaboration at present and the amount of funding that UK-based organisations actually win. That is one of the biggest risks that we face if there isn't a sensible agreement, and that will require the United Kingdom to pay into those research and collaboration pots to be able to continue to participate in them. So, we're making our views absolutely clear on that, and the scientific community across the UK, not just in Wales, is nearly unanimous in its view of the essential nature of continuing to participate in those networks and the loss of people that will take place if a deal does not agree to do so.

I want to deal briefly with your point about the social care workforce, then I'll come back to trade, customs and Euratom at the same time, if I may. We recognise we have got a weakness in understanding our data about the current social care workforce and the number of non-UK workers, both European Union workers and those from outside the European Union too. That's why my officials are already working with Social Care Wales on a bid to the European transition fund to have a further amount of research to give us a fuller and more accurate picture of the workforce we currently have in the social care sector and, indeed, where they have come from, and, indeed, more recent trends of people who are and are not coming into that sector in the more recent past since the vote two years ago.

But I think your question on Euratom mirrors a number of points that I've made in other fora about the real risks of a 'no deal' arrangement. If there are barriers to trade, that will affect a wide range of things, so medicines, but Euratom is particularly important, and it's also one where both trade arrangements that are tariff free and a customs union really do matter. Any delays in the ports don't just affect perishable goods in the food supply, but, actually, radioisotopes are hugely important. Nuclear medicine and the ability to diagnose and to treat a range of conditions are hugely important to a modern health service. We import nearly all of the radioisotopes used within the health service right across the United Kingdom. Coming out of Euratom was not something that I ever heard in any part of any debate during the referendum two years ago, but apparently the United Kingdom Government are saying that that is what they wish to do. Well, coming out of that, given that we are less than a year away from EU exit day and transition, would be disastrous. In terms of nuclear medicine, it would have huge problems. It simply could not be replicated; we could not replicate the ability to supply and create those radioisotopes within the UK within that period of time, and the ability to transport them from elsewhere is limited. Because of the half-life of the radioisotopes that are created, actually, you have a limited period of time to make proper use of them.

It's one of these areas where there's got to be a dose of reality about what 'no deal' means. It means if you sign up to a no deal, you are basically saying the NHS, for a significant period of time, won't undertake these treatments. That would be wholly unacceptable in any and every part of the United Kingdom. So, it is yet another area where current United Kingdom Government red lines need to give way to reality and common sense, and our responsibility as elected representatives is to serve the best interests of our people and not to pretend that we aren't on a guaranteed crash course to do the very worst thing for health and social care here in Wales and, indeed, right across the United Kingdom.