GMC Calls On MEPs To Safeguard Patient Safety In Ongoing Debate About Europe-wide Healthcare

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 28 Jan 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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The General Medical Council (GMC) has called on MEPs to recognise the importance of sharing disciplinary information about health professionals to ensure patient safety across Europe. The meeting, held in the European Parliament was hosted jointly by Arlene McCarthy MEP and the GMC, and attended by European Commissioner for Health, Markos Kyprianou.

At a time when European 'health tourism' is being hotly debated in anticipation of the draft directive*, the GMC reminded MEPs that the free movement of health professionals within the EU is also an issue affecting European patients - each year in the UK around 60% of new registrants with the GMC are doctors who have qualified outside of the UK.

The meeting is part of the GMC's continuing work to highlight the issue of professional mobility and patient safety in Europe. In particular, the GMC leads the initiative, Healthcare Professionals Crossing Borders (HPCB), a group of European healthcare regulators set up to maintain patient safety in Europe whilst supporting increasing professional mobility.

This week, as part of this work, the GMC has signed up to the 'Portugal Agreement'. It identifies shared principles of regulation and takes steps to set out how European regulators can share information about healthcare professionals' individual fitness to practise. The agreement says that each regulator should develop publicly available web-based lists of registered professionals and make their disciplinary hearings and decisions public.

Professor Sir Graeme Catto, GMC President said:

"As the mobility of patients and healthcare professionals increases in Europe, the challenge for regulatory bodies is to develop enhanced ways to share information. Our participation in debates like this is part of the GMC's commitment to ensuring patient safety with in the UK and across Europe."

Arlene McCarthy, chairing the seminar and Chair of the Parliament's Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, said:

"Ensuring patient safety is top of MEP's list of priorities when it comes to healthcare. Health professionals, as well as patients, cross European borders, and we need to ensure there is proper regulation in place to guarantee a high standard of patient care and safety."

Health Commissioner, Markos Kyprianou, who attended the meeting said:

"Clearly a fundamental requirement for safe and high quality healthcare in Europe is ensuring that European citizens are treated by safe and high quality healthcare professionals. I welcome all efforts made, including by the GMC and others, to develop procedures that protect the public against dangerous or impaired practitioners."

HPCB has this week launched its new website for members and the public: http://www.hpcb.eu

General Medical Council