European regulators work together to improve patient safety

Twenty six European medical regulators have signed a joint statement¹ suggesting ways in which the current system for regulating the movement of doctors in Europe could be improved.

The regulators have worked together to identify a number of proposals for the European Commission to consider on the directive that ensures mutual recognition of medical qualifications among European countries ahead of its review in 2012.²  These include enabling regulators to assess the language and clinical skills of migrant doctors.


The Commission has also been asked to consider improving information sharing about doctors; making it mandatory for medical regulators to respond to all requests for information from their counterparts, and setting up an alert system so they can quickly inform each other about regulatory actions taken against doctors. 


This follows concerns that regulators are not always sharing registration and disciplinary information about a doctor with their counterparts in other countries. At the moment there are only voluntary agreements between regulators to share information about doctors on their registers. 


The joint statement¹ (pdf) was agreed following a series of meetings hosted jointly by the General Medical Council, Bundesärztekammer (the German Medical Association), and the Conseil National de l'Ordre des Médecins (the French Order of Doctors).


Professor Robert Nicodeme, Président de la Section Formation et Compétences Médicales, Conseil National de l'Ordre des Médecins, said:
 
“The Conseil National de l'Ordre des Médecins particularly appreciates the quality of the contributions and the constructive views expressed by our European colleagues and the European Commission. The professional skills and language knowledge of migrant doctors and their integration with the host country's health system, as well as information about disciplinary information, are all major concerns for us. We wish to carry on this constructive work, which will be beneficial for patients, national competent authorities and the EU as a whole".


Dr. Frank Ulrich Montgomery, Vice-President of the Bundesärztekammer, said:


“It is with great pleasure that we cooperate with the Commission and our European colleagues on the common field of improving patient safety. We want migration of doctors, we support fair and equal rules and unbureaucratic regulation. It is therefore ‘common sense’ for us to work together and achieve consensus as in the Berlin Statement.”


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


“We really appreciate the Commission’s commitment to reviewing the directive and its willingness to listen to our concerns. We will continue to work closely with our European counterparts and the Commission ahead of the review. This joint submission is a significant step forward. It shows that regulators throughout Europe share the goal of securing improved patient safety and are committed to helping refine the current rules so that free movement of doctors can go hand in hand with proportionate, effective and targeted regulation.”


Ends

Notes to Editors:

¹ The Berlin statement is available as a pdf and includes the full list of the EU regulators who have endorsed the statement.

² Directive 2005/36/EC ensures mutual recognition of professional qualifications within the European Economic Area.

For further information please contact the Media Relations Office on 020 7189 5454, out of hours 020 7189 5444/ 07920 461497, email press@gmc-uk.org, website http://www.gmc-uk.org/.

The General Medical Council registers and licenses doctors to practise medicine in the UK. Our purpose is summed up in the phrase: Regulating doctors, Ensuring Good Medical Practice.

The law gives us four main functions:

• keeping up-to-date registers of qualified doctors
• fostering good medical practice
• promoting high standards of medical education and training
• dealing firmly and fairly with doctors whose fitness to practise is in doubt

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