There is a growing shortage of doctors from outside the European Union in the Republic of Ireland. Doctors' leaders attribute the situation to the introduction just over three years ago of stricter assessment exams, which include proficiency in English.
A number of senior doctors are warning that the situation is now so critical that some hospital departments may possibly collapse this summer. When the new system was put in place in December 1996, there were more than 1000 applications a year for temporary registration from doctors outside the European Union. The number has plummeted, and when the first exam was to be held it had to be postponed because only four applications had been received. Although the numbers have risen somewhat, there are still fewer than 100 applicants a year. Late last month, Mr Colman O'Leary, the chairman of the Accident and Emergency Consultants Association, told the Irish Medical Times that applications had dropped by 90% from suitable non-consultant hospital doctors seeking work in accident and emergency departments beginning in July this year. Another accident and emergency consultant told the same publication that he had short listed 15 non-consultant hospital doctors for seven posts and not one turned up for an interview. Asian graduates, for example, must arrange their visas and travel to Dublin at their own expense to sit the proficiency exam. The same graduates are able to sit the registration exams for the United Kingdom in their own countries. Even junior doctors from within the European Union face delays and expenses. They must pay £Ir400 (£308; $490) to the Medical Council to have their qualifications checked, a process that can take weeks or even months.
Full story in News Extra at bmj.com