The purpose of the Royal College of General Practitioners is to ‘encourage, foster and maintain the highest possible standards in general medical practice’ — in doing so, ensuring that the care we deliver to patients is good and safe.
It is the view of RCGP’s governing Council — elected by our members to reflect and represent their diverse views — that Brexit in any form would likely be harmful to the NHS, and undermine our ability to do this.
After almost 2 hours of debate during which any member of Council who wanted to speak was given the opportunity to do so, a significant majority voted, first, that the College should move to oppose the UK’s forthcoming exit from the EU, and, second, that the public should have a final say on the Brexit deal; in essence to support a second referendum.
The strong feeling on this second issue was that at the time of the 2016 referendum the public voted without full and impartial information about the impact Brexit will have on the NHS.
I understand that Brexit is a polarising issue, and that some members may not agree with our decision to take a stance, or the stance we are taking, but the decision to debate this issue was not taken lightly and only after seeking legal advice regarding our charitable status.
- © British Journal of General Practice 2019
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