IT will be business as usual at the Countess of Chester Hospital once Britain leaves the European Union on March 29.

That is the message from Simon Holden, chief finance officer at the NHS Foundation Trust which runs both the Countess and the intermediate care site in Ellesmere Port.

At a Cheshire West and Chester Council Brexit commission on Wednesday night, he told councillors that NHS hospitals are under strict instructions not to stockpile medicines – with the supply of drugs being dealt with by the Government.

He said: “We’ve started talking to our staff about what it means, and really that is a business as usual message to patients. We’re not trying to raise alarm.

“The NHS as a whole will be holding quite a lot of medicines, and if we do have any supply difficulties it is probably a case of moving it around between the hospitals.

“Drugs are being dealt with at a national level – we don’t tend to source drugs locally. They are through big wholesalers, with nationally agreed rates that the Government negotiates.”

Mr Holden also moved to reassure councillors about the impact of Brexit on staffing levels.

The trust currently employs 4,800 members of staff, including part-time employees.

Last month, when the trust took part in a Home Office scheme to secure visas for EU nationals working at the Countess, there were 68 members of European staff – with 48 signing up to the visa scheme.

Mr Holden added: “As an informed guess they are qualified nurses, and again as an informed guess that number has come down, but I haven’t got the data here.

“From my experience at the Countess we did have more qualified Europeans at the Countess than 68, that was just a snapshot in January.”