BREXIT. WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR EU MEDICAL STAFF WANTING UK JOBS

Thursday 23rd June 2016, the UK voted in a referendum to leave the EU.         ie BREXIT.
Inevitably, in these early days, there is huge uncertainty (political, economic, social) that will mean it will be years before the long term implications become clear.

In terms of medical recruitment, what exactly will be the impact of BREXIT on medical staff coming to the UK from Europe or on EU citizens already working in the UK?

As far as IMS sees it, the conclusion is that the impact of BREXIT on medical migration to the UK will be negligible in the short term (for at least two years). The justification for this conclusion is presented as follows:
• Once a country decides to leave the EU, it has to formally announce its decision to leave the EU.
• To formally leave, the British government needs invoke Article 50 of The Lisbon Treaty.
• David Cameron, the outgoing British Prime Minister, says that this will not be done until his successor has been appointed and therefore any announcement to leave will not be before October 2016 (at the earliest).
• There is then a further two years of negotiations (that can be extended) before Britain leaves the EU.
• So, for the next two years ie up until late 2018, there should be no impact on any EU citizen wanting a job in the UK and no impact on the overall process of getting a job (in terms of registration and also with there being no need for visas or work permits).

Longer term, and this is IMS’s opinion, the BREXIT impact on EU medical staff wanting to come to the UK is very unlikely to be negligible.
After the formal exit of the UK from the EU, the situation becomes far less certain with the main issue concerning what the registration process will be for candidates deriving from the EU.
For registration, if EU medical personnel were to be treated in the same manner as non EU, then the registration process will become significantly more protracted and considerably more expensive. All EU doctors will consequentially be required to go down the PLAB route for GMC registration and nurses will need do OSCE for NMC registration; both involve significant time, effort and cost.
IMS’s view is that this will inevitably deter many from considering the UK and/or will greatly extend the time a candidate will take to get registered and consequentially delay how quickly anyone could start working in the UK.

An additional uncertainty revolves around work permits. It is highly improbable that employers will encounter any difficulties in obtaining work permits for EU medical personnel (as shortage occupations) were they to be required in a couple of years. However, further delay for the recruitment process will inevitably be resultant as work permits now, for non EU citizens, take a couple of months to process. What the situation will be for EU doctors and nurses already working in the UK is also very unclear in terms of work permits; whether longer term these will also require a work permit (or not) will remain to be seen. One thing is clear is that it is wholly inconceivable that any highly regarded medical personnel already here will be required to leave due to the huge ongoing shortages of medical staff in the UK.

What also remains to be seen is how the uncertainty regarding BREXIT will influence the decisions of where EU candidates will want to work. It is too early to say whether the vote for BREXIT will deter candidates from coming to the UK and lead more to consider Ireland, other parts of mainland Europe or The Middle East.

To conclude, as the longer term situation is so uncertain, IMS’s clear recommendation is that if any EU doctor or nurse is considering working in the UK, they should apply for GMC or NMC registration sooner rather than later as post BREXIT, registration is most likely to be far more protracted and expensive than now.

Nick Sljivic BA MBA
Managing Director
IMS RECRUITMENT
IMS RECRUITS MEDICAL PERSONNEL FROM ACROSS EUROPE FOR CLIENTS IN THE UK.
IMS ALSO HAS MEDICAL JOBS IN IRELAND, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA.