1 February 2019

Health Governance after Brexit: Law, Language and Legitimacy

Project start date: February 2019

Project duration: 2 years

Funding awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council

Follow the project on Twitter @brexithealthlaw

Project Information

Professor Tamara Hervey, from the University of Sheffield’s School of Law, is leading a two-year project with Queen’s University Belfast looking at post-Brexit governance in an area that was critical in the referendum debates: health and the NHS. The project is part of the ESRC's Governance after Brexit programme.

The project team is Professor Hervey; Dr Matthew Wood (University of Sheffield's Department of Politics) and Dr Mark Flear (Queen's University Belfast's School of Law); and Dr Ivanka Antova (Queen's University Belfast's School of Law).

Guided by co-producers from the health policy sector, we are analysing the implications for health and the NHS of new post-referendum legal texts as they emerge. We are also gathering views from the public in the North of England and Northern Ireland using ‘hit and run’ street conversations – a novel form of ethnographic research.

Project Aims

We are comparing the legal language, the elite language used in health contexts, and the language of the public, focusing on metaphors and stories, to uncover the extent to which post-Brexit health governance can be said to be legitimate.

Health and the NHS remain critical to public and elite understandings of EU membership and what will be possible outside of the EU. We are studying the unfolding post-Brexit legal settlement to see its impact on health, and what experts and the public think about its meaning and significance.

Professor Tamara Hervey

Collaborators

We are working closely with several external collaborators including:

News

Tamara Hervey, Mark Flear, Matthew Wood and Ivanka Antova contribute to the UK in a Changing Europe's new report: Brexit and Beyond.

Authoring the section on health, our team address the health-related challenges faced by the UK now that it has left the European Union. Published January 2020.

Tamara Hervey, 'Analysis 1 of the Brexit deal: Healthcare entitlements in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement', EU Law Analysis, December 2020

Brexit, health & me: Educating young people on the links between politics and healthcare

Our team has been working with Shout Out UK to produce a documentary exploring the perspectives, hopes and expectations for health and the NHS in the aftermath of Brexit.

The documentary is freely accessible on Shout Out UK’s learning portal along with helpful resources and a quiz pack. These resources are popular with school teachers and youth leaders, for teaching pupils how democracy and the media works.

The ‘Brexit, Health & Me’ pack will be provided free to over one thousand schools in the UK to engage students following A Level Politics courses and similar courses in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and for general civic education. The pack is perfect for home learning, which is still the norm for the vast majority of secondary school students at present.

Shout Out UK trailer

The Shout Out UK trailer for Brexit, Health and Me is now here featuring the work of Professor Hervey; Dr Matthew Wood, Dr Mark Flear and Dr Ivanka Antova. This film follows this project's research on Brexit and how it is going to impact our NHS.

Policy analysis/briefings

Briefing for the Faculty of Public Health: Policy, Planning and Preparedness, October 2020

Briefing for Brexit Health Alliance: How we can protect patients as we approach the end of the Brexit transition', October 2020

Briefing for NHS Confederation: Analysis of the Withdrawal Agreement concerning access to cross-border healthcareand related rights post-transition, September 2020

Briefing for The UK in a Changing Europe: Post-Brexit Trade Negotiations and Health Governance, July 2020

Briefing for NHS Confederation: Comparison of the EU and UK negotiating draft legal texts concerning access to cross-border healthcare and related rights post-transition, July 2020

Briefing for Cancer Research UK, UK-EU Negotiations and Clinical Research: Cancer Research UK Recommendations, May 2020

Briefing note for Cancer Research UK, Cooperative relationships for bio-medical science post-Brexit: the legal landscape, February 2020

Briefing note for the British Medical Association, The Withdrawal Agreement and the Future EU-UK relationship, February 2020

Briefing Paper on EHIC rights of Northern Ireland Born Irish Citizens,2019

Briefing for Kidney Care UK Brexit's implications for dialysis poster, August 2019

Briefing for Kidney Care UK Post Brexit Dialysis Scenario, 2019

Briefing for Kidney Care UK Dialysis Abroad After Brexit: Summary, August 2019

Briefing for Kidney Care UK Dialysis Abroad After Brexit: Detailed Analysis

Briefing for Kidney Care UK: Concern for dialysis patients who wish to travel in Europe after Brexit

Evidence sessions

Tamara Hervey worked as Specialist Adviser to House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee on a Correspondence from Chair to Chair of the European Scrutiny Committee, released 31 March 2020

Tamara Hervey's evidence session at the Joint Committee for Health of the Oireachtas, 6 November 2019

Tamara Hervey's opening statement for the Joint Committee for Health of the Oireachtas, 6 November 2019

Academic outputs

Hervey, T. & Phillips, A., 'Brexit and Biobanking: GDPR Perspectives', in Slokenberga, S., et al (eds), GDPR and Biobanking: Individual Rights, Public Interest and Research Regulation Across Europe, (Springer, 2021)

Hervey, T., et al, 'How will Brexit affect the healthcare workforce', (2020), British Medical Journal

Hervey, T., Antova, A., Flear, M., Wood, M., et al, 'Health “Brexternalities”: The Brexit Effect on Health and Health Care outside the United Kingdom', (2020), Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law

Hervey, T., et al, 'More Competences than You Knew? The Web of Health Competence for European Union Action in Response to the COVID-19 Outbreak', (2020), European Journal of Risk Regulation

Antova, I., 'Disability Rights During COVID-19: Emergency Law and Guidelines in England', (2020), Medical Law Review

Schalkwyk, M. C. I., et al, 'Risks to Health and the NHS in the post-Brexit Era', (2020), British Medical Journal

Fahy, N., et al., 'Assessing the Potential Impact on Health of the UK's Future Relationship agreement with the EU: Analysis of the Negotiating Positions', (2020), Health Economics, Policy and Law

Hervey, T., & De Ruijter, A., 'The Dynamic Potential of European Union Health Law', (2020) European Journal of Risk Regulation

Phillips, A. N., et al., 'Brexit and Biobanking: GDPR Perspectives' chapter summary, in Individual Rights, Public Interest and Biobank Research - Article 89 GDPR and European Legal Responses, (Springer, forthcoming 2020)

Schalkwyk, M. C. I., et al, 'Assessing the Health Effects of a No-deal Brexit, (2019), British Medical Journal

Olivier J. Wouters, Tamara Hervey & Martin McKee, 'Brexit and the European Medicines Agency What Next for the Agency and UK Drug Regulators?', JMA Health Forums, 2019

Tamara Hervey writes on the findings from our ethnographic fieldwork in Northern Ireland and England, The Conversation, December 2019

McHale, J., et al., 'Health Law and Policy: Devolution and Brexit', (2019), Regional Studies

Flear, M., 'Epistemic Injustice as a Basis for Failure? Health Research Regulation, Technological Risk and the Foundations of Harm and Its Prevention', (2019), European Journal of Risk Regulation

Fahy, N., et al., 'How Will Brexit Affect Health Services in the UK? An Updated Evaluation', (2019), The Lancet

Mark Flear, 'Implications of “no deal” Brexit for orphan and paediatric medicines', British Medical Journal, July 2019

Tamara Hervey & John Middleton, ‘Health in future UK trade deals’, British Medical Journal opinion blog, April 2019

Flear, M. L., & Mac Sithigh, D. ‘Northern Irish Legal Education After Brexit’ (2019) The Law Teacher

Flear, M. L., Ruijter, A., & McKee, M., 'Coronavirus shows how UK must act quickly before being shut out of Europe’s health protection systems' (2019), British Medical Journal

Flear, M. L. & Ruijter, A., 'Guest Editorial to the Symposium on European Union Governance of Health Crisis and Disaster Management: Key Norms and Values, Concepts and Techniques' (2019) European Journal of Risk Regulation

Schmidt, V. & Wood, M., 'Conceptualizing throughput legitimacy: Procedural mechanisms of accountability, transparency, inclusiveness and openness in EU governance' (2019) Public Administration

Blog posts

Tamara Hervey, Natalia Miernik and James C. Murphy, 'Coordination of social security under the Withdrawal Agreement', EU Relations Blog, November 2020

Mark Flear & Tamara Hervey, Britain's pharmaceutical industry and no deal', The UK in a Changing Europe Blog, October 2020

Tamara Hervey, 'The UK's "Vaccine Nationalism" over Covid-19', UK in A Changing Europe Blog, July 2020

Matt Wood, 'Our Trade Deals Will Impact Health Access Across Europe', The UK in a Changing Europe Blog, July 2020

Ivanka Antova, 'Disabled People's Rights During the Covid-19 Crisis', Queen's Policy Engagement Blog, May 2020

Tamara Hervey, Natalia Miernik and James C. Murphy address the enforceability of citizens' rights through the UK courts, EU Law Analysis Blog (Steve Peers), May 2020

Tamara Hervey discusses Brexit, the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS and how well the UK and EU member states have handled the pandemic, The UK in a Changing Europe Podcast, April 2020

Mark Flear, 'EU joint procurement and how the UK’s delayed participation undermines the NHS and risks lives',The UK in a Changing Europe Blog, March 2020

Mark Flear, 'Coronavirus, Brexit and Threats to Health Security' UK in a Changing Europe Blog, February 2020

Ivanka Antova & Mark Flear, 'Health and Brexit: voices from NI', QUB Policy Engagement Blog, December 2019

Matthew Wood, 'Building the Civic University? Academic Outreach and Engagement in Sheffield', SAGE Political Insights Blog, November 2019

Tamara Hervey & Martin Mckee, 'The Withdrawal Agreement Bill and “Do No Harm” to health', British Medical Journal opinion section, October 2019

Tamara Hervey, 'Brexit and Mental Health', UK in a Changing Europe Blog, October 2019

Matthew Wood, 'Calling Out Brexit 'Bullshit' in 'Left Behind' Britain', Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI) blog, September 2019

Tamara Hervey, 'How Can Legal Scholars Study Cultures Far From their Own, SLSA Blog, August 2019

Mark Flear, Stuart Elborn & Damian Downey, ‘Implications of “no deal” Brexit for orphan and paediatric medicines’, British Medical Journal Opinion blog, July 2019

Tamara Hervey & Steve Peers, ‘What might have happened in an alternate universe: the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Implementation Bill (‘WAB’)’, EU Law Analysis blog, May 2019

Conference papers

UK Faculty of Public Health webinar, Brexit and public health: policy, planning and preparedness, October 2020, Brexit: The Latest Legal Implications

Institute of European and Comparative Law (Oxford) virtual workshop, October 2020, British-European Relations Post-Brexit: A Legal Kaleidoscope - Healthcare Law

NMHRC Conference, Sheffield, 2020 - notes for Studying Experience and Marginalisation in post-Brexit Healthcare

Law and Society Conference, Denver, May 2020, - Health Governance after Brexit: Law, Language and Legitimacy

European Consortium for Political Research Conference, Warsaw, September 2019 - Can Elite Institutions be deliberatively Democratic? The Case of the European Medicines Agency’s Public Hearing on Valproate

UACES Conference, Lisbon, September 2019 - The NHS Brexit bus: comparing narratives of accountability and legitimacy in post-referendum health governance

SLA Conference, Lancaster, September 2019 - Health Governance after Brexit: law, language and legitimacy

CLC Conference, Perugia, 2019 - Taking back control (of our health): The reponsibilised UK citizen and post-Brexit health governance

Jean Monnet Workshop, Copenhagen, June 2019 - Healthcare and the Fate of Social Europe - Health ‘Brexternalities’: The Brexit effect on health and health care outside the EU

SLSA Conference, Edinburgh, April 2019 - Exploring Legitimacy of Health Governance after Brexit through Law and Language: Methodological Reflections

SLSA Conference, Leeds, April 2019 - Exploring Legitimacy of Health Governance After Brexit Through Law and Language: Methodological Reflections

Media

Tamara Hervey is quoted in an article which discusses health cover in France for UK pensioners and visitors following the final UK-EU agreement, French-Property.com, January 2021

Tamara Hervey is quoted in an article discussing the competition among regulators to approve Covid-19 vaccines, Bloomberg Opinion, December 2020

Tamara Hervey is quoted in an article which discusses the UK's 'brinkmanship' on medicines in the Brexit negotiations and how this will risk lives, Politico, April 2020

Mark Fear et al. warns that Brexit threatens the UK's ability to respond to Covid-19 and future pandemics, The Guardian, March 2020

Mark Flear is asked: can the UK counter Coronavirus without the EU?, televised interview with France 24 Live, March 2020

Tamara Hervey discusses Brexit, the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS and how well the UK and EU member states have handled the pandemic, The UK in a Changing Europe Podcast, April 2020

Mark Flear warns that Brexit could delay UK access to a coronavirus vaccine, Politico, March 2020

Mark Flear et al. clarify the EU's ventilator scheme, The Guardian, March 2020

Mark Flear warns that access to the EU's health security system will be vital for Britain in dealing with Coronavirus, Daily Telegraph, February 2020

Professor Tamara Hervey addresses the possible future relationship for the European Medicines Agency and UK drug regulators, JAMA Health Forum, February 2020

Tamara Hervey interviewed in the article 'Healthcare top issue in UK general election, says professor', Xinhua, November 2019

Tamara Hervey was quoted in the article 'Brexit uncertainty leaves science under threat as general election looms', Chemistry World, November 2019

Tamara Hervey was quoted in the article 'HIV positive in Spain could lose healthcare post-brexit', Reuters, October 2019

Tamara Hervey warns cost of kidney treatment in EU could soar if no-deal Brexit, The Star, September 2019

Tamara Hervey's co-authored article features in news broadcast on the impact of no-deal Brexit on medicines, BBC Breakfast, September 2019

Tamara Hervey adds her signature to the letter 'A no-deal Brexit under Boris Johnson remains a threat to public health', The Guardian, September 2019

Project reports

Project Report August 2020

Project report February 2020

Project report August 2019

Past events

Healthy Partnerships? The Impact of Brexit & the Priorities for Sovereign Cooperation

Tuesday 19 January, 10:00-11:00

Hosted by the EU-UK Forum, Tamara Hervey joined a panel of other experts to discuss Brexit's impact on NHS recruitment, cross-border cooperation, and the effects of sovereign independence on vaccine procurement.

Health Policy in the EU and "European" health care

Wednesday 13th January 2021

Tammara Hervey presented the project's paper on ‘Brexternalities’ and the effect of Brexit on healthcare outside of the UK, at this seminar. This paper can be viewed in the 'Academic Outputs' drop-down menu above.

GreensEFA in the EP: first EU-UK agreement briefing re Social Security and Labour Law

Friday 8th January 2021

Tamara Hervey presented her gap analysis of the Withdrawal Agreement.

Northern/Ireland Health law & Ethics Network (N/IHLEN) & Irish Association of Law Teachers (IALT) virtual symposium

11 December 2020

Mark Flear co-convened this event which addressed 'Covid-19 and Legal Responses on the Island of Ireland'. Ivanka Antova presented on policy responses to Covid-19 and disability.

Brexit: Legal, Public Health, Food Supply & Security Impacts

Tuesday 24 November 2020 from 19.00 – 20.30

Tamara Hervey participated in the Socialist Health Association event where she spoke on the current legal implications of Brexit for healthcare and the NHS.

Law Through a Lens: Brexit, Health and Me

Wednesday 29th April 2020 from 17.00 - 18.00

A discussion with staff and students was held about how legal and policy research in the University of Sheffield - including undergraduate and postgraduate student research - contributes to real world problems.

Photos