Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-07-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to implement English language checks on doctors who have come from other EU countries to test their knowledge of clinical English rather than general social English.

Lord Prior of Brampton

In June 2014 the General Medical Council (GMC) was given powers to carry out proportionate language controls on all applicants from the European Economic Area (EEA) to ensure that doctors have the necessary English language skills to practise safely in the United Kingdom. In addition the GMC was given powers to take fitness to practise action if a doctor working in the UK has insufficient language skills to carry out their job safely. Doctors must register with the GMC to practise in the UK.

Since June 2014 a total of 1,659 doctors from the EEA have been unable to demonstrate to the GMC that they have sufficient language skills to practise safely in the UK; 564 of those doctors have gone on to reach the standard required by the GMC and have been issued with a licence to practise.