EU Doctors to be required to speak good English

Feb. 24, 2013 - PRLog -- Doctors from European Union countries will have to prove they can speak English before being allowed to work for the NHS, the government has said.

The General Medical Council welcomed the government's decision and will be given powers to test doctors' English levels.  

The proposals will mean that doctors who fail the English test administered by the GMC will not be awarded a licence to practise medicine in the UK.  

Doctors from outside the EU already face stringent language checks, but EU doctors have so far not had to endure the same tests.  Health Minister Dan Poulter said: "By introducing these steps we will be able to put an end to doctors treating patients without proper checks on their language."

Minister had to act after revelations last December that 3/4 of all doctors who are struck off hail from outside the UK.

Dr Dan Poulter, the health minister, said the changes were designed to protect the public.

“There are lots of excellent doctors from around the world working in the NHS,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

“This is simply about protecting patients and having proper checks on a doctor’s ability to speak English. By introducing these steps we will be able to put an end to doctors treating patients without proper checks on their language.”

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the GMC, said the change, which should come into force within 12 months, was a “very welcome development”.

He said: “Our position is clear – patients must be confident that the doctor who treats them has the right communications skills to do the job.

"If doctors cannot speak English to a safe standard then the GMC must be able to protect patients by preventing them from practising in the UK.”

There are around 253,000 doctors on the medical register. Of those, more than 25,000 were trained in Europe and around 67,000 were trained in other countries.

Unique Languages is a Medical English course provider based in London.  (http://www.uniquelanguages.com/Pages/MedicalEnglish.aspx)