In October 2010, a Pulse investigation caused a national stir after releasing figures that just 23% of EU doctors that are registered as GPs in the UK had been tested for language skills and only 17% for clinical competence.

The investigation took place during rising concerns, after the Daniel Ubani case, about the language skills and qualifications of some doctors who trained in the EU, which forced ministers to take urgent action.

Calls from the Government and the GMC to test EU doctors’ clinical competence and language skills have been largely ignored by the primary care trusts, with only few doctors having undergone the test within the last 18 months.

A new evaluation of data from the trusts shows that just 4% of doctors on performers’ lists who had not undergone testing in October 2010 have been assessed for language and clinical skills since then.

According to BMA’s GP committee, the findings are ‘extremely worrying’. They suggest that PCTs had difficulties in fulfilling their statutory role in view of the NHS reforms.

The Freedom of Information survey received about 97 responses from PCTs, of which 51 were able to provide data on testing rates on 792 EU doctors.

Amongst 51 PCTs only 25 EU doctors had been checked since October 2010, with the outcome that no doctor failed the test. One GP was expelled from the performers list for refusing to take part in a subsequent appraisal.

About 46 trusts were unable to provide data on whether doctors had been tested, which indicates that the true problem could be far greater.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, a negotiator for the BMA’s GP commmittee and a GP in Stanmore, Middlesex, declared:

“It is extremely worrying if PCTs are not implementing performance tests, on the back of the adverse events in recent years. It does worry me that in this massive reorganization of the NHS, PCTs have struggled to carry out their statutory functions.”

The figure was revealed following NHS Suffolk’s announcement of tightening its testing regime, whereby all prospective GPs who have not worked in the NHS before, must undergo face-to-face interviews prior to being accepted.

Richard Hoey, editor of Pulse, stated:

“It’s astonishing just how impervious primary care trusts have been to demands from ministers and the GMC to get their houses in order. The numbers we’re talking about are not huge – each PCT will have about 15 doctors trained elsewhere in the EU on its performers list – so it really shouldn’t be beyond their wit or capacity to get these checks done.”

Written by Petra Rattue