The GMC is calling for urgent checks on the medical qualifications of doctors working in different EU countries to ensure the 'single market' does not put patients at risk.
A lack of information among EU countries means that regulators "cannot have full confidence in each other's medical training and education," according a GMC response to a European Commission review of the 2005 directive governing automatic recognition of different systems.
The GMC is calling for minimum standards for doctors' training across all 27 EU member states and urgent checks of all national medical qualifications to prevent migrant foreign doctors working in health systems they may not understand.
Statics show that one in ten UK doctors qualified in other EU countries, and those who qualify outside the UK are more likely to be excluded or suspended from their jobs.
The GMC document says current EU legislation "does not allow competent authorities to assure themselves that the migrant doctors they register have kept their skills and competence up to date since the award of their professional qualifications".
Source: Guardian newspaper
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