DT News - UK - Brexit could impact dental labour market, experts say

Dental Tribune International

Thu. 16 June 2016

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LONDON, UK: Next week, people in the UK have to decide whether they want the country to remain in or leave the European Union. While a Brexit could potentially reduce administrative burden on dental practices, negative implications regarding the workforce are a risk that voters in support of exiting have to take, dental experts said.

As more dentists from the EU have joined the dental workforce than dental graduates from within the UK in recent years, stricter regulation on immigration of labour could result in shortages comparable to that in the late 1990s and early 2000s if Britain leaves the EU, a recent report in the British Dental Journal suggests. Opportunities, however, could arise for achieving uniformity of standards, since UK graduates will once again form the majority of the workforce in the UK. Regardless of laws implemented, the report predicts a decisive shift in the dental labour market in the case of a Brexit.

Dental professionals from EU member states are currently allowed to work freely in the UK under the EU Professional Qualifications Directive (2005/36/EC) if approved by the General Dental Council. In 2015, almost 7,000 non-UK and European Economic Area (EEA)-qualified dentists registered to work in the UK under this directive, almost 20 per cent more than in 2007, resulting in an oversupply, particularly in urban areas. Most of these dental professionals have migrated from new member states, such as Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. A large number of Irish dentists, who fall under the Common Travel Area arrangement predating the EU, also practise in the UK.

Little is known about what would happen after a Brexit, but if the country decides to leave on 23 June, negotiations under Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon will be started to newly regulate economic and political relations between the two parties. During this two-year period, Britain will continue to follow current treaties and laws, allowing dentists from EEA member states to remain and practise in the country.

Recent polls suggest a slight majority of people are in favour of splitting from the EU. A survey conducted by Dental Tribune in February and March indicated that more dental professionals in the UK want to remain in the EEA rather than leave it.

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