Peter Moore: Foreign doctors struck off overseas allowed to work in UK, investigation finds

Are there some doctors working in the NHS who have been struck off overseas? It sounds horrific but an investigation by the Sunday Times found some worrying cases although none doctors involved were working in Devon.

They found fifty-nine foreign doctors in the UK had been struck off overseas. The EU is not routinely sharing information on suspended doctors with the UK authorities.

A psychiatrist working in Bradford had been struck off in the US for having sex with a patient. Amazingly journalists found this out with a quick google search.

Another doctor struck off in Sweden for misreading scans was allowed to practice in the UK. Even more worrying is that when one trust was approached for a comment, they threatened legal action against the paper. Does this illustrate a problem with the NHS?

The correct action would be to cooperate, apologise and investigate. Attempting of cover their back is dangerous and will
not prevent the problem recurring.

Until 1858 there was no control over who could claim to be a doctor. Out of 10,220 men practicing medicine only 4% had a medical degree. The Medical Act of 1858 set up the Medical Council. All doctors had to register with the Medical Council and it was their role to ensure that anyone practicing medicine was qualified. Apart from changing the name to the General Medical Council (GMC) their role is largely unchanged.

There is no law in England stipulating the qualifications of a practicing doctor, just that every doctor must be registered with the GMC. Now the registration includes the doctor’s speciality and insists on regular appraisals.

I was registered as a GP and so could not have gone into Torbay Hospital to carry out a hip replacement which was probably a good thing. Equally an orthopaedic surgeon could not set up as a GP.

The GMC is also notified if a doctor is convicted of a serious crime. If found guilty of drink driving they would investigate. Is there an underlying alcohol problem?

The GMC is far from perfect. I was once asked to oversee a doctor who was in trouble. He had not been struck off but the GMC ruled that he had to report regularly to a senior doctor.

As he was working for the police and I was a senior police surgeon I was given the role. When we met he insisted that his practice was perfect. He had done nothing wrong. The only problem was that he had worked as a locum in A and E and wore a suit. Everyone objected and reported him to the GMC.

This made no sense. No doctor is struck off for wearing a suit. I contacted the GMC for more details. They told me that it was confidential. As I had no idea what he had done, and he denied any problem I felt that I could not help and resigned.

When I retired, I found that leaving the register was not straightforward. Before “voluntary erasure from the medical register” as it is euphemistically called, I had to produce references to ensure that I was still “of good standing”. I rang them up to ask why. I was told that if a doctor was in trouble and there had not yet been a hearing he or she could leave the register.

They could then reapply a year later there would be no record of their misdemeanour. I did leave with references but one colleague who was retiring asked “what would happen if I just stopped paying the annual fee?”

“We would strike you off”, which is what he wanted. I thought of that but did not want to end my career being struck off the medical register. When one of my descendants research their family history in a hundred years’ time would they say “Wow, my ancestor was stuck off the medical register. I wonder what he did.”

The GMC protects patients in the UK but medicine is now international. The loophole found by journalists needs to be filled as soon as possible. This might have been difficult in the days of paper records but surely in this digital age it should not be a problem.