Brexit will affect NHS, Ludlow MP Philip Dunne acknowledges
Ludlow MP and health minister Philip Dunne has acknowledged that Brexit will affect staffing in the NHS.
Speaking at a fringe event hosted at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Mr Dunne said leaving the European Union would "undoubtedly" have an effect on the NHS workforce.
Mr Dunne told the event that recruitment in doctor and nurses training positions showed that the government was preparing to ensure more UK staff were brought into the system in readiness for when the UK departs the EU.
During the event Mr Dunne also said his party will be increasing spending on the NHS by £3 billion this year.
The health minister also talked about the need to think of the NHS as an organisation to manage people's health.
He said: “We need to look more intelligently about the way in which we manage health care in a holistic way. We tend to regard the NHS, which is the largest organisation in the country, as an organisation which is there to treat people – which it is – but we need to look at it as an organisation to manage people’s health.”
Mr Dunne used the example of sustainability and transformation plans and accountable care organisations as part of the move towards that goal.
He told the meeting: "Last year, although there was a deficit in the provider sector, it was made up from the reserves in the commissioning sector, so we landed the budget with a £60m surplus on a budget of £117bn worth of spend.
"This year, we will be spending £120bn, which is more than a £3bn increase in funding in the current year on last year, and we have committed in our manifesto to deliver a per capita increase in funding in the department so there will be a continuing increase in funding in the NHS to cope with some of the increases in demand."
