A major review of the regulation of doctors’ education and training has taken the first steps in controlling the quality of European doctors entering the UK.
The review’s draft report makes 27 recommendations to the GMC a head of it taking over the regulation of the whole of medical education in April, following its merger with the Post Graduate Medical Education and Training Board.
The report challenges the automatic inclusion of senior European doctors, with supposedly equivalent qualifications, on the specialist register.
Member states of the European Economic Area are required by law to recognise the qualifications of each others’ doctors. It means that the GMC cannot carry out additional assessments of knowledge and skill.
‘This clearly limits the effectiveness of the registers and the ability of the GMC to protect patients,’ the report says.
It proposes that European specialists and GPs should only be eligible for inclusion on the medical registers ‘at the point of first revalidation following completion of training’. This would require the GMC to uncouple the completion of specialist and GP training from the decision to allow a doctor onto the specialist or GP register.
The move, it says, ‘could provide a mechanism for continuing to meet EC requirements in relation to recognition of training while ensuring greater equivalence in standards at the point of entry to the specialist and GP registers’.
Last year, consultant anaesthetist John Hutchinson campaigned for greater monitoring of European locums, while last week an inquiry started into the circumstances surrounding the death of a patient at the hands of a tired, German locum GP.
The independent review, commissioned by the GMC and chaired by Lord Naren Patel, covers the entire career of a doctor, from the first day at medical school to the last day in practice.
On revalidation, the report says: ‘At the very least, the GMC should provide clear guidance on what doctors will be required to do to keep up to date for the purposes of revalidation and the role of CPD within that.’
It also calls on the regulator to focus on delivering the outcomes required from training, rather than simply assuring the process. ‘What matters to patients is the quality of the doctors who treat them, not the processes by which they were trained,’ the report says.
This review is taking a long-term look at the future regulation of medical education and training as a whole and considering how this fits in with the GMC’s other responsibilities.
Niall Dickson, chief executive of the GMC, said: “We have a great opportunity now to create a system in which every stage of education and training is fit for purpose, successfully prepares the doctor for the next one, where standards are constantly rising and which treats all doctors fairly, wherever they come from and whatever stage they are at in their careers.
“I hope the consultation stimulates debate and encourages as many as possible to comment on the conclusions and recommendations of the draft report. This will help us set the way ahead and ensure a robust approach to the regulation of education and training in the years to come.”
Doctors can consult on the report until 9 March. A final report will be submitted to the GMC at the end of that month.
Tags: GMC, Overseas doctors, Training
