Concerns have been raised that Dorset could be faced with a major healthcare problem in the wake of Brexit negotiations. 

A Freedom of Information request revealed that approximately one in seven doctors at Dorset County Hospital (DCH) are continental EU nationals. 

The concern about job security for non-UK national staff comes amid recent reports of a nationwide NHS recruitment crisis. 

The Freedom of Information request also revealed that DCH already has a 15 per cent shortfall in the number of doctors it employs and a further 10 per cent shortfall in nurses. 

Dr Andy Stillman, from the campaign group West Dorset for Europe, said: “If our politicians do not negotiate the Brexit deal very carefully and sensitively, there could be major health problems in Dorset. The hospital already has enough problems recruiting doctors without denying it access to continental Europe as well. 

“We are constantly presented with a two-dimensional problem- hard or soft Brexit. I have a great regard for our hospital and its wonderful staff but our politicians are putting it in a tricky position.”

The current or latest known percentage of doctors employed by the Dorset County Hospital Foundation Trust who are non-UK nationals currently stands at 14 per cent. A further three per cent of nurses and health visitors are also non-UK nationals as well as five per cent of support to clinical staff. 

Dr Stillman said: “Potentially almost 30 per cent of medical posts could soon become vacant. That is the percentage of continental EU doctors that we would lose added to the vacant posts.”

Staff shortfalls could mean the hospital needs to rely on costly agency staff- a bill which already cost DCH £1m for nurses in 2015.

Cllr Jon Orrell, who represents Weymouth at a borough and county level and is also a local GP, said: “This is a real unseen danger of hard Brexit. If we use are colleagues in Europe as a bargaining chip, we run a real risk of destabilising and de-skilling the NHS. 

“As a nation, we fail to train and employ enough doctors and nurses and we have come to really rely on our doctors and nurses from abroad. If we have a hard Brexit, and we lose the free movement of people, our NHS could collapse. 

“I feel very strongly that those people who have chosen to live and work here should be welcomed as we depend on them for this to work.”

In previous years DCH has held recruitment days in European countries in a bid to fill posts. 

A spokesperson for DCH said: “Our overseas nationals are an important part of our workforce, and we will do all we can to support them during any period of uncertainty. We are not planning any overseas recruitment campaigns this year – we are focussing our recruitment on the domestic labour market.”