Nurses offered reassurance following Brexit vote

NHS trusts are celebrating the diversity of their workforces and offering counselling to nurses and other staff in the wake of the Brexit vote.

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust in London emailed staff to assure them that all people working for the trust were valued equally ‘regardless of nationality’.

Reminding staff that there was a counselling service available the email read: ‘There is likely to be a period of uncertainty for some time following the referendum result, but we want to reassure staff that we are here to help and support you.’

Trust chairman Andy Trotter said the decision to send the message had been taken following reports of increases in hate crime nationally in recent days.

‘We are amazingly proud of our staff and we have excellent relationships with them,' he told Nursing Standard. 'They provide an excellent service and we are concerned about their welfare.'

Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Suzanne Rankin assured her staff they were ‘valued now and in the future’.

Other trusts are also understood to have offered reassurances to staff regarding the decision to leave the EU.

The decision to make counselling available to staff, was criticised by UKIP MEP Jane Collins who told the Daily Mail: ‘People upset by a referendum result should not be offered a free counselling service when there are people with genuine mental health care needs who are on a waiting list for treatment.’

Free counselling was offered at NHS trusts to staff before the EU referendum election.