Leaving the EU will damage health in this country where it was suffering the most before the pandemic, and where covid-19 hit it hardest, says Martha McCarey.

Leaving the EU without a deal threatens health and the NHS in many ways, but the scale of the threat remains unclear. / We propose a framework that could be the basis for the comprehensive health impact assessment to inform politicians and the public. / The government’s claims that it is prepared for no deal are implausible and, at best, might mitigate some of the worst consequences.

Health systems in the UK have a long standing dependency on international staff, and over the decades this has tended to intensify at times of shortage. Today is no exception, but this period of shortfall coincides with departure from the European Union (EU)—causing rapid, and at times, concerning changes in patterns of recruitment.

As Prime Minister Boris Johnson prepares to depart Downing Street, tossed from office by his own party, his legacy — the opening lines of his eventual obituary — will call him the man who “got Brexit done.” / So how is that going? What can be said about the post-Brexit Britain that Johnson is leaving behind?

Three years ago, on 31 January 2020, the British flags that had flown outside European Union buildings for over 40 years were lowered. The then prime minister Boris Johnson had “got Brexit done.” Except he hadn’t.

Crashing out without a deal could contribute to an additional 12,400 cardiovascular deaths between 2021 and 2030, according to the research published in the journal BMJ Open on Monday.

UK SCIENTISTS have been told they can no longer take part in meetings organised by a key European infectious diseases agency due to Brexit tensions, it has emerged. / “This is a recognition that Brexit has consequences, and the form of Brexit the UK has chosen has more severe consequences than were necessary."

The BMA has detailed the likely consequences of Brexit, in a series of Brexit briefings, most recently today [02 Sep 2019]. All of the briefings warn of the harm that Brexit could do.

To estimate the potential impacts of different Brexit trade policy scenarios on the price and intake of fruits and vegetables (F&V) and consequent cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths in England between 2021 and 2030.

Join the BMA and the BMJ to look at the impact of Brexit on health services across the UK - from workforce and regulation, to reciprocal healthcare and medical research, there’s barely a part of the health service that will be unaffected by the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

The [Yellowhammer] documents themselves outline that there are risks to the supply of medicines - but do not set out the detail of how those risks have been mitigated, and what doctors and patients should do to plan for the possibility.

Six years after the referendum we can disentangle the evidence and judge the effects on health and care, says Richard Vize.

For almost 50 years, the NHS benefited from easy access to a large market, meaning it’s been first in the queue for the latest innovations. But what impact might Brexit have on medicines, medical devices and life sciences in the UK? Mark Dayan explains, in a blog that was first published in the BMJ on 26 February.

Brexit uncertainty adds another dimension of disruption to a health service already struggling with the unknown legacy of a global pandemic

British pharmacists are struggling to get their hands on certain medicines for cancer, epilepsy, diabetes and menopause as drug supply issues intensify in the country.

The UK’s medicines and devices regulator will stop work that “does not add value” and lose over 100 full time equivalent staff posts as part of its post-Brexit cost cutting drive, a leaked consultation document seen by The BMJ shows. / But experts warned that plans to streamline regulation to speed up the development and approval of new drugs for patients’ benefit carried potential safety risks.

Restrictions on doctors’ working hours must not be watered down as part of post-Brexit legislative changes, the BMA has said.