Doctors: Foreign Nationals Peter Bottomley To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many European doctors have sought work in the United Kingdom since the implementation of the EU Professional Qualifications Directive for Health Professionals in October 2007. Ann Keen The number of European doctors who have sought work in the United Kingdom is not collected centrally. However, for information the General Medical Council will be able to identify the number of European doctors who have applied for UK registration. The last workforce census showed that there were a total of 7,261 qualified medical staff working in the national health service from the European Economic Area as at 30 September 2006. Peter Bottomley To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what safeguards are in place to ensure that European doctors applying for hospital posts in the United Kingdom are able to communicate in English and are fit to practise, following the implementation of the EU Professional Qualifications Directive for Health Professionals; (2) what criteria are used to assess whether European doctors applying for hospital posts in the United Kingdom are fit to practise following the implementation of the EU Professional Qualifications Directive for Health Professionals; (3) what mechanisms are in place to support European doctors working in the UK without the required language and communications standards and competencies; and how such support is funded. Ann Keen The Department's code of practice for the International Recruitment of Healthcare Professionals, which covers recruitment from inside and outside the European economic area, emphasises that all international healthcare professionals should have the appropriate level of English language to enable them to undertake their role effectively and that they should be registered with the relevant regulatory body. The General Medical Council are responsible for assuring themselves that a doctor is fit to practise before granting registration. In addition NHS Employers' guidance makes clear that “It is important to remember that all international healthcare professionals need to demonstrate their communication skills... the employer should satisfy themselves of a candidate's ability to communicate to the required standard for the post.” All applicants for foundation programmes or specialty registrar training opportunities are required to demonstrate competence in the English language. It is the responsibility of the employer to ensure that any concerns about a doctor's competence are addressed. The European Union Professional Qualifications Directive has not changed the position in relation to European doctors qualifications, or English language competence on entering the United Kingdom. Keith Vaz To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many foreign nationals were employed as doctors by the NHS in (a) 2007 and (b) each of the previous 10 years; (2) what percentage of NHS doctors were EU nationals in the last five years; (3) what percentage of doctors working in the NHS were non-EU foreign nationals in 2007; (4) what percentage of doctors working in the NHS were UK nationals in the most recent period for which figures are available; (5) what percentage of doctors who migrated to the United Kingdom were EU nationals in the last five years. Ann Keen The national health service work force census does not collect the nationality of NHS Staff; it does however collect the country of primary qualification. The available information is shown in the following tables. The publication of the 2007 figures is provisionally planned for this March. 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|Numbers (headcount) | 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| |2002|2003|2004|2005|2006| 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|All countries of qualification |103,350|108,993|117,036|122,345|125,612| 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|Qualified in all of the European Economic Area (EEA) (including United Kingdom) |75,871|79,121|83,225|85,672|87,898| 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|Percentage of staff qualified in all of the EEA (including UK) |73|73|71|70|70| 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| |||||| 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|Qualified within the UK |70,245|73,134|76,733|78,647|80,637| 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|Percentage of staff qualified in the UK |68|67|66|64|64| 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| |||||| 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|Qualified within the remainder of the EEA |5,626|5,987|6,492|7,025|7,261| 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|Percentage of staff qualified in the remainder of the EEA |5|5|6|6|6| 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| |||||| 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|Qualified outside the UK and EEA |23,825|26,109|29,959|32,703|33,805| 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|Percentage of staff qualified outside the UK and EEA |23|24|26|27|27| 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| |||||| 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|Unknown country of qualification5 |3,654|3,763|3,852|3,970|3,909| 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|Percentage of staff with an unknown country of qualification |4|3|3|3|3| 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|1 Excludes medical hospital practitioners and medical clinical assistants, most of whom are general practitioners (GPs) working part time in hospitals.2 Medical and dental data as at 30 September each year.3 General medical practitioners (excluding retainers) includes GP providers, GP others and GP registrars.4 GP data as at 1 October 1997-99, 30 September 2000-06.5 Qualified outside the UK consists of those staff which qualified within the remaining EEA and elsewhere in the world.Notes:1. Information about HCHS staff country of qualification is derived from the General Medical Council. Therefore the country of qualification in shown as unknown for all staff in dental specialties with a General Dental Council registration.2. The EEA (excluding the UK) includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Irish Republic, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.Sources:1. The Information Centre for health and social care Medical and Dental Workforce Census2. The Information Centre for health and social care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics| 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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |Numbers (headcount) | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |1997|1998|1999|2000|2001|2002|2003|2004|2005|2006| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |All countries of qualification |89,619|91,837|93,981|96,319|99,169|103,350|108,993|117,036|122,345|125,612| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |Qualified outside the UK5 |23,483|24,122|24,923|25,764|26,852|29,451|32,096|36,451|39,728|41,066| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |Qualified within the UK |62,569|64,105|65,442|67,025|68,785|70,245|73,134|76,733|78,647|80,637| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |Unknown country of qualification6 |3,567|3,610|3,616|3,530|3,532|3,654|3,763|3,852|3,970|3,909| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |1 Excludes medical hospital practitioners and medical clinical assistants, most of whom are GPs working part time in hospitals.2 Medical and dental data as at 30 September each year.3 General Medical Practitioners (excluding retainers) includes GP providers, GP others and GP registrars.4 GP data as at 1 October 1997-99, 30 September 2000-06.5 Qualified outside the UK consists of those staff which qualified within the remaining EEA and elsewhere in the world.6 Information about HCHS staff country of qualification is derived from the General Medical Council. Therefore the country of qualification in shown as unknown for all staff in dental specialties with a General Dental Council registration.Sources:1. The Information Centre for health and social care Medical and Dental Workforce Census2. The Information Centre for health and social care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------