The competence of foreign GPs is to be examined by the General Medical Council following a report recommendation.

The paper by Lord Patel on regulation of medical education recommends that the GMC should address the “significant variation” in training across EU countries.

If doctors meet minimum EU standards, then they have to be recognised by all EU member states. These “shortcomings in legislation” are preventing the GMC from effectively protecting patients, said Lord Patel, who concluded that lack of equivalent training has lowered confidence in the specialist and GP registers.

German locum Dr Daniel Ubani administered a fatal overdose on his first shift in the UK, prompting the spotlight to shine recently on the topic of EU doctors working in the UK.

A review of out of hours care quality, led by Department of Health primary care director David Colin-Thome and Royal College of GPs chairman Steve Field, is due to report soon.

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