EU rejects foreign doctors plan

EU doctors would be able to work for four months unregistered

MEPs have rejected plans to allow foreign doctors to work unregistered in the UK.

The proposals would have allowed professional people, including doctors, to work wherever they choose in the European Union for 16 weeks a year.

But the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament voted on Thursday to require doctors to register in the host state before they could practise.

The proposals will now be considered at full parliament meeting next month.

We will be lobbying to ensure today's commitments on patient safety are maintained. Sir Graeme Catto

Supporters of the plans - contained within a draft Directive on the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications - argued they would have helped to raise standards across all professions throughout the EU.

But they were vigorously opposed by the British medical establishment, who banded together under the banner of the Alliance of UK Regulators on Europe (AURE).

They argued that patient safety could be at risk if the plans were approved, as they would be powerless to act if problems arose from the care a patient received.

Information exchange

They also successfully persuaded MEPs to back plans to ensure the exchange of information between member states on action taken against a professional on their individual registers.

GMC President Sir Graeme Catto said: "We are currently studying the detail of today's votes and will be lobbying to ensure today's commitments on patient safety are maintained when the plenary session of the European Parliament meets on December 17."

Speaking before the vote, Sir Graeme said it was vital that all healthcare professionals registered in the UK were fit to practise - and he warned that the effective exchange of information was key to ensure this was the case.

He said that if information was not exchanged UK regulators would not be aware of concerns over competence or disciplinary action against people coming to the country.

People could be "fleeing from justice" in their country of origin and the UK medical profession would not know.