Should we obey this European rule?

[anotheoldgit]

http://tinyurl.com/68g4cxe

Is it important for your GP/Surgeon to speak English?

[chelle7272]

Yes of course,I have enough trouble understanding my dentist....

[Zeuhl]

The GMC can't stop europeans from working here - but the Employers are the actual arbiter.

If your GP practice/local hospital is employing a new doctor (or arranging a locum contract) they have the legal right to decide what the communication skills requirement is for that post.

If they predominantly serve a Polish community or a French School- fine -but I think in the vast majority of cases they will make the appropriate candidate selection and if inability to communicate with patients is a factor they will not contravene any 'laws' whatsoever.
.

[anotheoldgit]

chelle7272

But then I suppose he has difficulty in understanding you, when he has his hand in your mouth :0)

[anotheoldgit]

Zeuhl

Yes but then we know what these employers are like if they can get anything on the cheap?

Take a look at most of the call centre operatives, can anyone understand them?

[Zeuhl]

Old Git

Agreed. There have i believe been terrible cases of incompetent doctors coming in from abroad (as locums usually) and killing people.

I think the ultimate responsibility has to be the employer's. If someone here wants to employ a German doctor who can't speak english that's their business and can't be illegal. But if my hospital or GP puts a doctor in front of me I would hold them responsible for ensuring they are properly qualified, competent and can communicate with me.
.

[DTCwordfan]

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[squarebear]

"Foreign doctors whose English is so poor that they need interpreters are being allowed to operate on patients in Britain, the medical regulator has warned. "

It doesn't bother me one jot. If I was being operated on, the last thing on my mind would be to have a chinwag with the surgeon who was making me better.

[tamborine]

"....Potential NHS employers are allowed to carry out such assessments...." Its up to the employers whether they employ them.

Our local hospital employ a lot of polish staff and its left to one long-standing employee to translate the work for them.

[Zeuhl]

<<Our local hospital employ a lot of polish staff >>

as doctors?
as surgeons?

[woofgang]

Before I retired the local general hospital started employing a lot of foreign nationals as bank nurses..I used to have real trouble understanding them when I phoned to ask about my patients.

[owdhamer]

Yes

[saxy_jag]

My dentist, an Indian lady, speaks better English than I do. I have more difficulty understanding her Scottish colleague sometimes.

Thing is, though, when I meet medical professionals whose spoken English is poor, I can usually understand them because I've spent years working with and alongside people whose first language isn't English. But my mum, I know, has real problems understanding her GP sometimes. He's a wonderful doctor with a lovely bedside manner, but people of Mum's generation just aren't used to all these 'foreign' accents.

[boxtops]

Yes, absolutely essential. Some doctors-on-call services employ EU doctors on short-term contracts to cover weekends etc - absolutely vital that they can not only read but understand patients' notes etc. I have worked with medics whose accents were very strong so they were hard to understand, but they did have the right terminology in language which was correct when written down.

[boxtops]

^ agree with you saxy, exposure to different accents really helps, I can understand most (if with efford sometimes) - but some people just give up if they don't understand what the doctor or nurse is saying to them.