EU: Healthcare

Viscount Bridgeman Excerpts

Wednesday 11th January 2012 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Bridgeman]

My Lords, I join other noble Lords in congratulating the Lord, Lord Kakkar, on his masterly overview of the subject.

In the short time available, I have to record cautiously encouraging news. Your Lordships will recall a debate on 8 September in which attention was drawn to the problems with language testing of health professionals from the EEA. My noble friend Lord Howe gave an encouraging reply at the time and, following a constructive Green Paper issued by the Commission, a draft directive was issued in December which includes three significant proposals.

The first is that a warning system is to be introduced so that regulatory bodies must warn each other if, for example, a doctor or nurse has been struck off or suspended from a register and attempts to register in another member state. The second is that there will be updated minimum training requirements for doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses and midwives to reflect the evolution of those professions and of education in those fields. That is particularly important with some of the newer accession states, where there is a very different culture and practice. The third is the right for regulatory bodies to check the language skills of health professionals—something for which UK health organisations have been pressing. On that point, does the department’s reading of Article 38 of the directive, especially its second paragraph, give a blanket power for a competent authority routinely to examine all applicant health professionals for knowledge of the language, which I understand to be a common aim among those authorities?

Those three proposals will have a major impact in remedying the shortcomings affecting health professions which were thrown up by the original directive. I remind your Lordships that the healthcare regulatory organisations in England, and those covering devolved Administrations where they have responsibility, played a major role in discussion on the Green Paper. Finally, I pay tribute to the Minister and his department for working with the Commission to achieve what I am confident will be a favourable and constructive development.