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MEPs and healthcare regulators consider patient safety in Europe

4 December 2009

At a lunchtime reception in the European Parliament, Brussels, on 2 December 2009, the Healthcare Professionals Crossing Borders initiative held a policy debate on patient safety and high-quality regulation of healthcare professionals. The event, which brought together around 40 MEPs, policy-makers and regulators from across Europe, facilitated discussion on increased mobility for healthcare professionals and the need for regulatory collaboration to ensure safe, high-quality healthcare throughout the European Single Market.  

The event was hosted by Arlene McCarthy and Linda McAvan MEPs and featured presentations from Archy Kirkwood, Chair of the General Medical Council’s European and International Working Group, Adriaan Duivesteijn, BIG – Register, Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Netherlands, and András Zsigmond, National Authority for Health Authorisation and Administrative Procedures, Hungary. Speakers stressed the need for clear, transparent regulation and the need for regulators to proactively share information on professionals’ fitness to practise to ensure patient safety in Europe.

Per Haugum, from the Norwegian Registration Authority for Health Personnel and Chair of the HPCB Steering Group, presented the main findings of the HPCB survey on the Portugal Agreement and information sharing between healthcare regulators. He highlighted the progress achieved in a number of areas across participating HPCB national authorities, including the widespread use of accessible web-based professional registers, and the use of the HPCB template on Certificates of Current Professional Status. Not withstanding these successes, there is a continued risk to patient safety arising from obstacles to the proactive sharing of information on disciplinary decisions, as well as in dealing with disciplinary judgments received from other competent authorities.

The subsequent debate centred on the exchange of information between competent authorities, the Internal Market Information System (IMI) and future action for HPCB. Based on the survey findings, the HPCB Steering Group will develop a work programme for the initiative in 2010 and will circulate this to HPCB participants for comments.

For more information on the event, please contact Tanja Schubert at hpcb@gmc-uk.org.