Almost half of European doctors seeking to work in Britain have been refused entry for poor English, new figures show, amid fears that new rules for nurses could cause chaos. Sweeping changes to regulation will mean that from today, nurses who wish to work in this country will have to prove they can speak English well enough to practice safely. For the first time, foreign regulators will also be required to inform UK watchdogs when doctors and nurses are struck off abroad, in order to block the traffic of rogue health professionals into the UK. The changes follow mounting concern about the safety of regulatory systems to protect the public. Under the new rules, nurses and midwives from Europe will need to prove they have enough English to practise in the UK. If they cannot prove evidence of language skills - such as having trained or worked in an English-speaking country - they will need to undertake a language test. Similar rules were introduced for doctors 18 months ago, in the wake of a scandal when a pensioner was killed by a locum medic, Daniel Ubani, who had just flown in from Germany. Since then, more than 900 doctors from EU countries have been rejected because they failed to prove their command of English was good enough, the General Medical Council (GMC) said last night – around four in ten of those who applied. Regulators said the new rules for nurses were required to improve patient safety. However, the changes come amid a national shortage of nurses, with most NHS hospitals heavily reliant on foreign labour. The number of nurses registering for work in the UK from Europe has almost quadrupled in five years, with 7,518 registrations in 2014/15. Latest figures show nine out of 10 hospitals in England reporting shortages of nurses. If the rules are applied as strictly as those for doctors, it could mean thousands of foreign nurses being turned away. Howard Catton, Royal College of Nursing head of policy, said it was crucial that all healthcare staff had the right language skills – but expressed fear at the consequences for the NHS if large numbers of nurses are rejected. “With an ongoing shortage of nursing staff in the UK and continuing reliance on overseas staff it will be vitally important to closely monitor the application and impact of these rules,” he said. The UK is one of the European nations most dependent on foreign nurses, with one in five nurses working here born abroad. Across the EU, only Luxembourg, Ireland and Estonia are more dependent on nurses from overseas. Jackie Smith, Nursing and Midwifery Council chief executive said: "Being able to communicate effectively with patients is absolutely fundamental to patient safety, so this is a really important part of our role protecting the public.” “From now on, all nurses and midwives applying to join the register from outside the UK, including the EU, will have to demonstrate they can communicate effectively to a high standard of English.” Ms Smith said the new language rules, combined with the EU alerts mechanism, would “greatly improve patient safety”. She said many members of the public might find it “surprising” to discover that the rules had been so lax until now. Niall Dickson, GMC chief executive said language checks for doctors had been “hugely successful.” He said: “We were always concerned that doctors were able to come here without being able to demonstrate that they could speak English to an appropriate standard. Since this measure was introduced more than 900 doctors applying from Europe have not been able to demonstrate that they meet our requirement, and therefore have not been given a licence to practice.” The new system of EU-wide alerts means that regulators will be informed within three days whenever doctors or nurses are struck off in another European Union state. Until now, doctors and nurses have been able to obtain work in the UK, without British authorities ever knowing that they had been subject to serious disciplinary action abroad. The new system means regulators should be informed within three days of serious regulatory action being taken abroad. Source
