Under current EU laws, British patients are being put at risk as freedom of movement is put above the safety of patients, warn leading clinicians.

Dr Hamish Meldrum, chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) council, said, “That European employment law and other countries’ refusal to share information from their medical registers meant British medical regulators were sometimes powerless to guarantee foreign doctors’ capability.”

Because of this we could see situations occurring where a doctor who is banned from practising in one country could be registered in Britain without the General Medical Council (GMC) being aware of their ban due to incompetence or malpractice.

Under current EU laws the GMC can not test European-qualified doctors’ clinical capability or language skills, where as they can for doctors from outside the EU.

With the current EU laws concerning the free movement of labour between member countries, as well as the current situation of skills tests not being applicable for EU qualified doctors could see more EU qualified doctors applying for doctor jobs, GP locum doctor jobs in Britain if they are banned from practicing in their home country.

At a BMA meeting in Cardiff, Dr Meldrum said, “If a doctor was struck off and the GMC knew about it then the likelihood of them being able to practice is probably quite low, but the problem is whether the GMC always knows about it and also the reasons as to why it happened.”

“We are aware of several cases where doctors have been removed from the medical register in this country because of fitness to practice problems, but are still practicing elsewhere in the EU. I am afraid EU law seems to put freedom of movement rather higher than protection of patients.”

The concerns of Dr Meldrum are only too clear with the case of Daniel Ubani, a German-qualified cosmetic surgeon working in Cambridgeshire who accidentally killed David Gray, a 70-year-old patient with an overdose of painkillers.

Because of EU laws, the GMC where unable to verify whether or not Daniel Ubani had ever worked in Germany as a GP, because his license gave him automatic entitlement to work in the UK.

Dr Meldrum added: “We saw with the Ubani case how he was found guilty in the UK and yet he is still practicing in Germany and that doesn’t seem to be satisfactory.”


Dr John Fitton, a GP from Kettering, Northamptonshire, said, “It should be unacceptable that a doctor who is found to be incompetent or untrustworthy in one jurisdiction of the country might be equally be able to find employers in another.”

So far, the European Commission has launched a green paper consulting member nations on the prospect of an international alert system when a doctor is found unfit to practice.

Niall Dickson, GMC Chief Executive, said, “This is about patient safety. When we take action against a doctor we actively tell other regulators.”

“We want other regulators across Europe to do the same and have urged the European Commission to put a duty on them to do this. We believe all regulators must share this vital information in order to keep patients safe.”

Under the current system, EU qualified doctors from members states of the EU are able to work in the UK regardless of their clinical and language skills. With a government determined to improve the efficiency of the NHS, as well as improve patient care and treatment, this is one area that could lead to future problems.

Furthermore, as financial cutbacks affect NHS Hospitals across the UK, standards in patient care must remain a priority by recruiting doctors, GPs and GP Locums who have all the necessary skills and competencies to deliver a high standard of patient care the government is committed to delivering.

As hospitals across the UK have to work within current EU legislation, MPP Locums understands the need and importance of providing first class medical professionals.

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