DT News - UK - Survey demonstrates UK doctors’ negative opinion of Brexit

Dental Tribune UK

Tue. 31 July 2018

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LONDON, UK: More than two years after a national referendum resulted in the UK electorate voting to leave the EU, Brexit remains entrenched in the negotiation stages. Despite this, a recent survey of British medical professionals, conducted by researchers, has found that these medical professionals overwhelmingly believe Brexit will be very bad for the NHS.

The researchers, who come from a variety of London-based higher learning institutions, compiled an online survey with three distinct sections: general political views and past voting behaviour, views on specific health policy issues, and participant characteristics. To reach a representative sample of the UK’s medical workforce, the researchers collaborated with the online professional network Doctors.net.uk and validated the proportionality of respondents against records from the General Medical Council.

In total, 1,172 respondents were included in the final analysis, with 86.1 per cent listing the NHS as their main workplace. Of the respondents, 62.2 per cent described their own political views as liberal, with just 23.6 per cent identifying as conservative.

Regarding the impact Brexit would have on the NHS, respondents were asked to measure their expectations on a scale from 0 to 10—with 0 representing the worst outcome and 10 the best outcome. With an average score of 2, 82.7 per cent of respondents rated the expected outcome below 5.

As to whether EU nationals should be allowed to remain in the UK after Brexit, the overall reaction went beyond political divisions, with 98.6 per cent of respondents believing that EU nationals should be allowed to stay.

"Our research shows a move away from the Conservative Party and increased support for Labour over the past two elections," said study co-author Dr Delanjathan Delakumar.

"The majority of doctors voted Remain in the Brexit referendum, think that Brexit will be bad for the NHS and think that EU nationals working in the NHS should be allowed to stay. Of course, a decision to vote for a part is made up of several factors but we assume that this is, at least in part, related to doctors' views on Brexit and the health service."

The results of the study are in accordance with a survey of UK-based dental professionals conducted by Dental Tribune ahead of the Brexit referendum, which indicated that more dental professionals want to remain in the EU rather than leave it. In addition, a survey conducted by the British Dental Association last year found that more than half of NHS-affiliated dentists under the age of 35 plan on leaving NHS dentistry within the next five years.

The study, titled “Political views of doctors in the UK: A cross-sectional study”, was published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health on 30 July 2018 ahead of inclusion in an issue.

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