Hospitals have been left undermanned and struggling after hundreds of EU staff left the trust.

Since the Brexit vote, West Herts Hospital Trust (WHHT) has lost 321 members of staff – all who are from EU nations.

The information was revealed in a Freedom of Information request, submitted by Peter White of anti-Brexit campaign group, People’s Vote S-W Herts.

The 36-year-old says the rhetoric in recent years has led to a ‘nasty” culture that makes people from the EU feel threatened.

An anti-immigrant feeling that he says is fuelled by politicians and has congealed since the Brexit vote.

Mr White said: “I think there has been a change of culture in the UK and this has led to a nasty attitude to immigrants who do some of the most important jobs in our society.

“I would love to have lots of doctors and be training them but it takes years to get a doctor into the hospital.

“It’s not practical, so we have to get a doctor from abroad who has undergone much of the same education as in this country - We cannot replace these people so quickly.

“We talk a lot about British Values but I think we have lost a core British value - respect.”

The trust’s access to the supply of medical isotopes, which are used to detect cancer, produced in Europe could also be affected.

Due to its radioactive half-life it decays regardless of the way it is stored – and the FoI shows the trust’s supply all comes from the EU.

In the event of a ‘no deal’ the Government may also have to withdraw from Euratom, a pan-European partnership with the nuclear industry which guarantees a supply of medical isotopes to EU member states.

Britain may lose access to this supply unless a deal is brokered.

Paul Da Gama, director of HR at West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust said: “Since the referendum, we have seen a number of staff from EU countries leave the trust which saddens us deeply.

“We meet regularly with our staff who are EU citizens to reassure them that we value them greatly and to discuss what we can do to support them.

“In recent months, the turnover of EU staff has slowed down and we continue to recruit from EU countries, and from all over the world, so that our hospitals can continue to have a thriving global community.”