EU member states will be able to check the professional history of doctors from other European countries under new proposals being examined to crack down on struck off doctors working in different jurisdictions.
Last year, The Irish Times revealed doctors who are professionally sanctioned overseas, including for sexual misconduct and patient harm, are able to retain their Irish licences without the public being aware of their offences.
The investigation identified 11 doctors who have faced serious sanctions in the UK, including being struck off, and who remain registered in Ireland.
In each case, the UK sanction was not recorded on the doctor’s publicly available record published by the Medical Council.
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The investigation, conducted alongside 50 international media organisations and co-ordinated by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, identified dozens of cases of doctors prevented from practising in one country, but continuing to work in another.
It raised concerns about how information on sanctioned doctors is shared between authorities.
Speaking at a press conference following an informal meeting of EU health ministers in Dublin Castle on Thursday, European commissioner for health Olivér Várhelyi said there are some doctors who like to “abuse” the mutual recognition of medical qualifications between European countries.
“There are very clear rules about how you can actually register yourself in another member state, but you don’t have to redo university,” he said.
“We also see another tendency, which is there are some who like to abuse this possibility of getting a new recognition of their professional qualifications and basically not disclosing all of the professional history - meaning potential abuses after national restrictive measures in terms of professional activity.”
Várhelyi said the issue is something the European Commission is now examining.
“We’re looking now at establishing an exchange between member states so they can check whether the professional who would like to register with them are not under any restriction in other member states,” he added.
The European health ministers’ meeting discussed access to medicine and growing the number of clinical trials in the bloc.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, who chaired the meeting, said the aim is to improve the clinical trials environment so smaller countries like Ireland can have improved access to these trials.
“It’s about equity of access, regardless of country size,” she added.
[ Doctor who lacked basic medical knowledge struck off Irish registerOpens in new window ]
Speaking to reporters, Carroll MacNeill said it is hoped there will be a European Council recommendation on cardiovascular health checks by the end of the year, with a particular focus on early detection and screening.
Meanwhile, Várhelyi said he hopes to publish an update on the Tobacco Products Directive by the end of the year.
The directive will focus on the addictive nature of tobacco products, he said, adding that the work is “very well advanced”.
