The General Medical Council (GMC) has announced that from June 2014, doctors from other EU countries coming to practise medicine in the UK will have to pass an English language test to register in
The General Medical Council (GMC) has announced that from June 2014, doctors from other EU countries coming to practise medicine in the UK will have to pass an English language test to register in Britain. Currently, only doctors from outside the European Union have to take the test.
To date, over 27,000 doctors from other EU countries have registered in the UK without undergoing any English language tests. Under the new system, the GMC will require doctors to score at least 7.5 out of 9 in the International English Language Testing System in order to register, meaning that foreign doctors that cannot speak English will be struck off.
80% of respondents to a public consultation on the planned changes said that they would support the indefinite suspension of doctors who fail to acquire the necessary knowledge of English to treat patients in the UK safely while 90% said that the GMC should be able to compel doctors to take the test where there was a serious concern about the doctor's English The changes follow a series of incidents involving foreign doctors with limited knowledge of the English language, including the case of Lucius Okere, a Nigerian doctor who qualified in Italy. Mr Okere was struck off, having worked as a locum in fourteen NHS hospitals despite confusing the medical term "crash call" with "car crash".
Chief executive of the GMC Niall Dickson said, "These are important steps to tighten up our procedures…This is part of a package of measures that will further increase our scope to make sure that doctors coming to the UK from the European Union are able to communicate safely."
The GMC plans to introduce the new checks in June, subject to the legislative process. It is also anticipated that the new Regulation of Health and Social Care Professions etc Bill (to be unveiled later this month) may include a category of impairment of "lack of necessary knowledge of English" which will apply to all registrants.
To date, over 27,000 doctors from other EU countries have registered in the UK without undergoing any English language tests. Under the new system, the GMC will require doctors to score at least 7.5 out of 9 in the International English Language Testing System in order to register, meaning that foreign doctors that cannot speak English will be struck off.
80% of respondents to a public consultation on the planned changes said that they would support the indefinite suspension of doctors who fail to acquire the necessary knowledge of English to treat patients in the UK safely while 90% said that the GMC should be able to compel doctors to take the test where there was a serious concern about the doctor's English The changes follow a series of incidents involving foreign doctors with limited knowledge of the English language, including the case of Lucius Okere, a Nigerian doctor who qualified in Italy. Mr Okere was struck off, having worked as a locum in fourteen NHS hospitals despite confusing the medical term "crash call" with "car crash".
Chief executive of the GMC Niall Dickson said, "These are important steps to tighten up our procedures…This is part of a package of measures that will further increase our scope to make sure that doctors coming to the UK from the European Union are able to communicate safely."
The GMC plans to introduce the new checks in June, subject to the legislative process. It is also anticipated that the new Regulation of Health and Social Care Professions etc Bill (to be unveiled later this month) may include a category of impairment of "lack of necessary knowledge of English" which will apply to all registrants.