The new NHS Commissioning Board that will oversee GP consortia may be given the power to check language skills of overseas doctors.
The Department of Health has announced language checks might come under the new body’s remit as part of efforts to prevent another tragedy such as the death of David Gray following treatment by a German locum on his first out-of-hours shift in the UK.
In April, the parliamentary health select committee published its report The use of overseas doctors in providing out–of–hours services, which followed the case of Mr Gray who was killed by an overdose of diamorphine in February 2008.
The drug was administered by Dr Daniel Ubani, who has since been struck off the GMC register and is no longer permitted to practise in the UK.
Publishing its formal response to the committee’s report this week, the Department of Health said the death of David Gray was a “tragic case resulting from a failing out-of-hours system and the government offers the Gray family its most sincere condolences.”
The government supported one of the committee’s recommendations that the government seek to make changes to the relevant European Directive before it is due to be revised in 2012, to enable the GMC to test the clinical competence of doctors and undertake systematic testing of language skills.
However, the Department said that only the European Commission could propose amendments to EU law in this area, but other steps could be taken in the UK to tackle this problem by strengthening language checks under the current scope of the law.
The Department’s response said: “In particular we plan to explore how the NHS Commissioning Board, which we intend to bring forward legislation to establish, could oversee a more effective system for undertaking checks on language knowledge of primary care practitioners to address the historic lack of consistency in the application of checks by primary care trusts.
“We will ensure, through local health commissioning and contracting arrangements that those employing or contracting with doctors properly discharge their obligation to ensure that the doctor is fit for the specific role that they are being appointed to and that there is appropriate clinical input into decision making.”
The likelihood of a repeat of the case of Mr Gray would also be lessened as new rules came into place in the next few years.
From April 2012, all out-of-hours providers will have to register with the NHS watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
This means providers would have to meet the 16 registration requirements, including one on "staffing" - which requires that providers “must take appropriate steps to ensure that, at all times, there are sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, skilled and experienced persons employed for the purpose of carrying on the regulated activity”.
In its guidance about compliance, the CQC makes it clear this means that staff should be able to communicate effectively with people who use services.
The CQC will also have powers to deal with commercial providers that endangered patient safety by failing in their obligation to check the clinical and language skills of overseas locums.