MORE than 800 EU staff have left their jobs at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust since the 2016 Brexit referendum.

The figure is double that which left in the five years preceding the vote.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran asked a Parliamentary Question to find out the extent of the staff members leaving the trust.

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The Lib Dem MP revealed 841 EU27 staff members have left the trust so far post-Brexit.

A follow-up question showed that, in the five years preceding the referendum, September 2010 – September 2015, just 410 left.

Ongoing problems with filling vacancies and turnover have plagued the trust in recent years.

Last autumn it was revealed that OUH has the highest proportion of EU nurses of any NHS trust outside London, at 21 per cent.

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However, the number of those joining has significantly declined since the referendum in 2016, while the number leaving continues to increase.

A spokesman for OUH said since the Brexit vote, the number of EU staff at OUH has increased not decreased and the numbers joining were greater than those leaving.

They added the trust employs 1,500 EU staff (12.47 per cent of all staff), and this figure has risen since the Brexit vote.

Ms Moran said: “Brexit is now taking a real toll on our public services and the Tories should be ashamed.

"The fact that over 800 EU nationals have left our health service since Brexit is deeply saddening.

“If we do not act sooner and, more importantly, stop Brexit, then we will undoubtedly see this being repeated across public and private sectors alike."

Last week NHS workers and supporters marched in Oxford to demand more funding to solve staff shortages.

John Drew, Director of Improvement and Culture at OUH, said: “EU staff are a long-standing and crucial part of our workforce."

He added: "Whilst Brexit does create some uncertainty, current guidance is that EU staff already working here will be able to continue to live and work in the country. Oxford University Hospitals has always attracted staff from across the world, including the EU, and we hope it will continue to do so.”