Foreign doctors to undergo fit-to-practise test

DOCTORS starting work in the UK for the first time need to undergo an induction course to make sure they are fit to practise in surgeries and hospitals, watchdogs have said.

The General Medical Council (GMC) said that foreign doctors and newly qualified medics needed better support to work safely with patients.

The advice follows a number of high-profile cases of overseas doctors harming patients after coming to work in the UK without proper language skills and little knowledge of how the health service works.

In their report – State of Medical Education and Practice – the GMC found some new doctors start clinical practice with little or no preparation for working in the UK, while some locums are taking on duties without appropriate training.

In Scotland, almost 900 new doctors joined the medical register in 2010, and each year around 12,000 doctors from the UK, Europe and around the world start working in the UK for the first time. But concerns have been raised about the fitness to practise of some doctors, following cases such as that of patient David Gray.

A coroner ruled the 70-year-old was unlawfully killed by German doctor Daniel Ubani in February 2008 when he injected him with ten times the recommended dose of painkiller diamorphine.

An inquest heard Dr Ubani, 67, was providing cover for GPs in and around Newmarket, Suffolk, when called to treat Mr Gray at his home in Manea, Cambridgeshire.

Yesterday’s GMC report found doctors going into the health service for the first time – those from overseas as well as newly registered doctors who trained in the UK – needed better support to practise safely.

It also said that employers needed to be confident that their medical staff could speak and understand English to a good enough standard. Chief executive Niall Dickson said: “While there is much to celebrate about medical practice in the UK, the challenges are also clear – we must do more to make sure that all doctors understand the standards expected of them.

“Developing an induction programme for all doctors new to our register will give them the support they need to practise safely and to conform to UK standards.”

The GMC report said that in 2010, doctors who qualified outside the UK were no more likely than UK qualified doctors to be the subject of a complaint. But it said that a higher proportion of complaints against overseas doctors were sent for immediate investigation, and a higher proportion were referred to a fitness to practise panel.

Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, welcomed the new GMC guidance: “Patients phoning our helpline have expressed concerns about the communication skills of doctors from outside the UK.

“The Dr Ubani case has left some patients concerned about the training their doctors have received, and shaken confidence in the qualifications and expertise of doctors from abroad.”