I think most reasonable people recognise the positive aspects of immigration. Leave is not anti-immigration (raising the flame shields...), it is pro- controlled immigration. EU immigration is not, and cannot be, controlled. And that's a big issue to a lot of people. We just don't have control.
As to the NHS thing, I've said it before but it bears repeating, "trained professionals from outside the UK" in that context largely refers to non-EU immigration! Doctors from Pakistan and India, nurses from the Phillipines. This constant conflation of "immigration" with "EU immigration" needs to be sorted out.
Pro-controlled immigration policy is to my mind, reactionary politics, based on fears rather than actual 'what's best for the country' politics. Admittedly when you get right down to the nitty gritty, I my self don't really have strong evidence on whether immigration on the scale we saw would lead to a net benefit overall long term; I certainly do think that free labour movement across the EU is good policy overall for the Union. I believe the ONS thinks long term immigration is good policy in regards to economic output - but I'm sure someone can correct me here.
There has been an accelerated reliance on EU for NHS professionals, simply because this and the previous government has clamped down on immigration outside the EU, but you are still correct to my mind, when you say NHS immigration largely refers to immigration from countries outside the EU.
I believe, unless somebody corrects me, NHS staff of EU origin levels are around 5%, roughly the same as the EU population as part of the UK. I think doctors are above 10% but I can't at this moment recall, where I got this figure from. If it's from some campaign leaflet, please forgive me. Anyway, I mention those figures, because 1/10th of a workforce is significant to my mind.
The recent Nurse shortage is well documented. And we're training less and less every passing year [and this arguably is national government fault]. Both of these trends suggest that we need immigration more rather than less, I repeat *need* immigration to fill a skills shortage. Brexit makes this more awkward. To my mind brexit absolutely fails here. This is one area where there is a demonstrable need for labour, and using controlled immigration policy, as we do to immigration outside the EU, shows a downward trend, hypothetically widening the gap.
Referendum politics aside, I honestly think, the Tories should really reflect on what they are doing to the NHS.
edit: As an aside, I really didn't want to talk about quality of life, because I honestly don't care for it.* Immigration effect on quality of life is hard to talk about. People tend to think the past was better; sometimes it demonstrably was [washing machines used to last a very long long time**], but on a lot of things it really wasn't for the country as a whole.***
* care to talk about it. People have already made up their minds and the climate just isn't right right now.
**first thing that came to mind.
***Yes I got into it. But I've tried to keep a lid on it. Without reference to race or multiculturalism.
