Crime Solicitors

The General Medical Council (GMC) has called on the European Commission and UK government to act over patient safety concerns about a proposed new “passport to practise” for medical staff.

Under the new scheme, employers must make sure that every medic they take on has the correct qualifications and experience to undertake their role successfully.

The GMC says it will be working with employer organisations to promote this message.

Under European law, the GMC is not allowed to check the skills or competence of doctors coming to the UK from the rest of Europe – but from January 2016, a new European professional card will be introduced for many health professionals, which means the UK will be reliant on regulators in other European countries to make sure those coming to work in the UK have the correct documents and qualifications.

The card will apply initially to nurses, pharmacists and physiotherapists – but it is expected that it will also apply to doctors from 2018.

The GMC – and other European regulators – believe this could further weaken their ability to check that the doctors coming to Britain are safe to practise.

The GMC says it is concerned that the amount of time for checking doctors’ qualifications will be cut in half – and it will lose all direct contact with the doctor and will have to rely on the doctors’ home state regulator to verify documents for the council.

EU member states will also not be required to check the new pan-European doctor warning system, which highlights any safety concerns about individuals when it comes into force in January 2016.

The GMC is calling for a full investigation into the impact of the card system before it is extended to doctors.

The council has also called on the government to include patient safety in its negotiations over the UK’s role in the European Union.

Chief Executive of the General Medical Council, Niall Dickson, said:

”The UK has long relied on professionals from all over the world to run the NHS – and we continue to depend on their skill and dedication.

”But there are major weaknesses in the regulatory system – and it must be right that every country in the EU should be able to check that doctors coming to work within their borders have the competency, skills and cultural understanding to treat its patients safely.

”We believe that the introduction of the European professional card for doctors would further jeopardise our ability to protect patients in the UK.

“We are also calling on the UK government to include patient safety considerations in their negotiations on the future UK membership. A commitment to improve patient safety should be part of any continued membership of the EU,” he added.

Figures published in the GMC’s 2015 The state of medical education and practice in the UK show a sharp increase in the number of doctors coming to the UK from some European countries – around 10% (24,000) of doctors currently working in the UK qualified in other EU member states.

The GMC is also taking action against some European doctors already practising in Britain, who do not have the necessary language skills – one doctor has been suspended and another has been ordered to retake the English language test.

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