The General Medical Council and Nursing and Midwifery Council give evidence in Lords inquiry

• Parliament TV: Mobility of Healthcare Professionals
• EU Sub-Committee G - Social Policies and Consumer Protection

The Committee is looking into the EU’s plans to revise legislation which allows doctors and nurses to work anywhere in the European Union by getting Member States to recognise each other’s healthcare qualifications.

Witnesses

Thursday Committee Room 2, Palace of Westminster

At 9.45am

• Professor Sir Peter Rubin, Chair, General Medical Council
• Mr Niall Dickson, Chief Executive and Registrar, General Medical Council

At 10.15am

• Professor Dickon Weir-Hughes, Chief Executive and Registrar, Nursing and Midwifery Council
• Dr Katerina Kolyva, Assistant Director of Nursing and Midwifery Policy, Nursing and Midwifery Council

The Committee covered:

• Whether language requirements for professionals who work in a country whose language is not their native tongue need to be strengthened, and the GMC’s plans to introduce a language testing scheme.
• The GMC’s well-known concerns about gaps in current regulations. Are their concerns shared by colleagues in the EU? Can they can provide examples of where the current process has failed?
• Why they think the introduction of a European Professional Card wouldn’t work.

The Committee then heard evidence from the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

They were asked about evidence which supports their concerns that the EU’s proposals will force them to register professionals who are not fit to practise in the UK and that current minimum training requirements are out of date.

Further information

• About Parliament: Select Committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch Committees