London: Doctors trained in the European
Union, who were so far exempted from taking the English
language test, will now be required to clear it before
starting their practice in the UK.
Indian doctors seeking to train and work in the National
Health Service (NHS) are already required to pass the language
test before they qualify to practise here.
The NHS has now decided to introduce mandatory language
tests for doctors moving to Britain after training elsewhere
in the EU.
The move came as some EU doctors with poor grasp of
English, who were working in the NHS, could not diagnose
patients correctly, leading to wrong diagnosis and grave
consequences for British patients.
At present, only doctors from outside the European Union
are routinely scrutinised for their language skills before
being registered by the General Medical Council, the
regulatory body.
Andrew Lansley, Health Secretary, has announced measures
requiring doctors trained in the European Union to also
compulsorily undergo English language tests before they can
practice in Britain.
A spokesman of the General Medical Council (GMC) saidtoday that the new announcement by Lansley was designed to
make the English language test compulsory for EU doctors, as
is the case for India and other foreign doctors.
PTI
