Scott Ainslie, London's Green Party MEP, has responded to the Department of Health's plans to subject EU nationals in the UK to NHS charging "immediately after exit day".

Since nearly 40% of London's population was born outside the UK, this new policy would require NHS staff - who are already under immense pressure due to Brexit - to spend precious time checking their patients' immigration statuses rather than providing the treatment that they need. Mr Ainslie slammed the plan as "absurd, unnecessary and unsustainable".

Mr Ainslie, Green MEP for London, said:

This policy makes it crystal clear that the Government intends to extend its hostile environment to millions of EU nationals “immediately after exit day”.

It would be disastrous for EU nationals who will become exposed to the same broken NHS charging system currently experienced by non-EU nationals in the UK. If they don’t have the right documentation, they will be forced to pay upfront at 150% the cost of the non-urgent service or procedure they need.

However, it would also be a catastrophe for our NHS staff. Thanks to the Tories’ populist approach to policy-making, NHS organisations are already lumbered with the bureaucratic nightmare of having to identify which non-EU patients can be treated for free, and who will be forced to pay.

If this system is rolled out to encompass EU nationals, nearly 40% of London’s population will need to have their immigration status checked before they can receive free NHS treatment.

This is completely absurd, unnecessary and unsustainable. It will put immense pressure on our city's NHS staff - the last thing they need as their EU national colleagues continue to flood out of the country due to Brexit uncertainty. 

Combined with the Home Secretary’s proposed £38,000 salary threshold which would prevent the NHS from hiring the staff it needs, this reckless policy could bring this country’s healthcare system to its knees.

So much for Boris Johnson’s promise emblazoned on the side of a bus. It’s clear that our new Prime Minister is far more concerned about pacifying the far-right than he about protecting our precious NHS. 

Have the Tories learned nothing from Windrush? Our representatives are blinded by their privilege, and completely out of touch with the needs of working people in this country – many of whom were born in the EU and have contributed so much to our health service and our communities.