THE WELSH GOVERNMENT welcomed a campaign to thank EU and overseas staff working in the NHS.
Finance and Local Government Cabinet Secretary, Mark Drakeford, said: “Eluned Morgan has developed a campaign to demonstrate loud and clear that EU nationals and others are not simply treated with tolerance here in Wales, but that they are welcome to be here and that the decision they have made to make their future part of our future is a decision that is hugely appreciated and recognised.”
Eluned Morgan AM explained: “One of the biggest challenges the NHS faces, especially in rural areas like Mid and West Wales, is attracting staff. At the same time we’re dealing with the turmoil caused by our decision to leave the EU. I think it’s important to make clear the incredible contribution made by doctors, nurses and other staff who come from the EU and elsewhere overseas to work in our NHS.
“Several EU doctors have told me that they feel slightly less welcome since the vote and so it is essential that we, the public, take time to reassure them, and make them understand that we do appreciate all that they do for us. We also need to ensure that we explain this carefully to the hundreds of thousands in Wales who did have concerns about immigration.
“Over the summer I’m asking the public across Wales to support me in a campaign to ensure that our doctors, nurses, health professionals and care workers from the EU or overseas feel welcome by saying thank you to them.”
After handing out leaflets at Withybush and Glangwili hospitals, she said: “The response to this campaign was incredible. All patients grasped immediately, irrespective of the way they had voted, that these expert professionals need to be supported and made to feel at home.”
Doctors and nurses from outside of the UK support the delivery of NHS services across Wales.
Eluned Morgan added: “We also have a recruitment problem in specific specialist areas. We need the experts already here to stay. We need more skilled health workers to come. The success of the services in our hospitals is utterly dependent on their expertise, as well as on the expertise of British staff.”
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