THE percentage of EU staff working at a Hampshire NHS trust is falling, sparking concern as the UK heads towards Brexit.

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is one of 29 in the country where both the proportion of EU employees joining the organisation has fallen in consecutive years, and the amount of EU employees leaving has grown.

Figures obtained via NHS Digital also reveal that the proportion of EU doctors, nurses and other staff members leaving in the first six months of 2017 is larger than the entirety of 2014/2015.

It comes as the government tries to draw up plans to leave the EU following the June 2016 referendum.

Across England, there are around 135,000 EU nationals working in the NHS and adult social care system, accounting for five per cent of the NHS workforce.

A spokesman for the trust said: “Although we have seen a reduction in the number of new starters from the EU, those who remain with us and who join in the coming months and years will continue to be a valuable part of our workforce once the UK completes its withdrawal from the EU.

“We have built a very strong nursing community from Portugal and Spain and are seeing many of these individuals remain with us and recommend the hospital to friends at home.”

The trust added that it was querying other figures seen by the Daily Echo via NHS Digital with its own numbers.

At Solent NHS Trust, the number of staff joining from the EU in 2016/2017 was just ten.

Danny Mortimer, from the Cavendish Coalition, which is made up of 37 health and care organisations, said any indication that the NHS was becoming less attractive was cause for concern.

The coalition is aimed at addressing any Brexit-related issues in the health and care workforce.

Danny said: “NHS organisations are working hard to address staff concerns and better retain vital skills, but they also need national support.

“Any indication that the NHS is becoming a less attractive place to work, for staff from abroad or from the UK, is a cause for concern.”

Southampton Itchen MP Royston Smith said: “We want to make everyone feels welcome and give them the same rights in this country, so it’s a shame that more staff in the NHS are leaving from the EU. They are valued members of our communities.

"The solution to this is that we have to – and we are doing so – train our own.

“We are doing that in record numbers and with that, and a successful negotiations with the rest of Europe, will mean that we have enough staff for the NHS.

“We can also cast our net much wider, and see people from Australia and other countries coming here.

“There will be a time as this gap widens that the NHS function won’t be optimal if the numbers carry on, but I don’t see it as having a breaking point per se.”