The impact of Brexit on Slovak healthcare professionals in the United Kingdom – the fallouts and consequences

Abstract

his research paper is devoted to the analysis of the effect of Brexit on Slovak healthcare workers in the UK. The main objective of the research is to estimate the impact of the fallouts and the extent to which Brexit has had on Slovak healthcare professionals living and working in the UK. It is supposed in the paper that the impact of the changes affected Slovak healthcare workers so much that they are considering leaving the UK and coming back to Slovakia. The estimation is based on the questionnaire survey conducted within the framework of the APVV project output, from which questions related to migration were analyzed. The main method used for the statistic estimation is the Pearson Chi-square test, along with hypothesis verification, which is the way the survey results are interpreted and analyzed. The results have shown that Brexit has significantly impacted Slovak healthcare workers, as many of them are considering returning to Slovakia. Deteriorating working and living conditions are forcing them to consider the question of their future to stay in the UK. Brexit indirectly contributes to the increased discomfort of Slovak healthcare professionals, both in work and in everyday life, especially in terms of the increased cost of living, the feeling of increased discrimination, stagnating working conditions, and imaginary distancing from their relatives, friends, and acquaintances living in Slovakia in particular because of new regulations implemented when travelling between countries.