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 5:48 pm on 26 June 2018.

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Photo of Joyce Watson Joyce Watson Labour 5:48, 26 June 2018

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Just for the record, between 2017 and 2018, 3,962 nurses from the European economic area left nursing, according to the Nursing and Midwifery Council's register, and they were replaced by just 805. That is the lowest level of recruitment to date, so I think we need to make it clear that this isn't scaremongering—these are actual figures.

The good news in this is that those numbers have remained fairly stable in Wales since the talk of Brexit, but I think that we really need to make it clear that these threats are real, they are already starting to happen, and that isn't to mention the effects that it can have on doctors, healthcare support workers, catering staff, housekeepers and porters, because they are all part of keeping the NHS going, and each one of them performs a vital role. So, I suppose my question to you, Cabinet Secretary, is: having managed to hold on to our nursing staff so far, how do you think that we can sustain that going forward, especially if we end up with a 'no deal'?