New EU rules on foreign doctors ‘will benefit NHS’

The NHS European Office has welcomed the latest update to EU regulations that will increase scrutiny on health professionals moving around Europe to practice in different countries.

A vote in the European Parliament took place on July 9th 2013 at committee stage, which confirms the informal agreement on the revised directive reached by EU decision-makers recently, with a full vote set to take place in autumn.

Under the revised terms of the directive, regulatory bodies will be able to check health professionals' language competence and test it before allowing them to practise, while EU regulators will also need to proactively warn each other when a health professional is banned or has restrictions imposed on their practice.

Moreover, health professionals will only be able to obtain professional registration if they meet all the minimum training requirements.

Elisabetta Zanon, director of the NHS European Office, said: "NHS organisations must be confident that European staff who come to work in the UK have been properly checked and that their qualifications, experience and other credentials are up to date and meet minimum standards."

This comes after linguistic proficiency was enshrined as a legal duty for NHS doctors earlier this year.