Alliance of regulators addresses professional mobility

Two articles reflect recent media interest in health tourism in the context of the European Commission consultation on health services in Europe.1 2 What neither article addresses is the equally important issue of professional mobility that provides the other focus of the commission's consultation.

In 2005, over 7000 healthcare professionals from the European Economic Area registered with UK regulatory bodies for the first time so that they could work in this country. The United Kingdom has undoubtedly benefited from this high degree of professional mobility, with many dedicated individuals contributing positively to UK health care. But the EU rules that facilitate this level of mobility must also ensure proper protection for patients and the public.

The Alliance of UK Health Regulators on Europe (AURE) brings together the 10 health and social care regulators in the UK to work collaboratively on European issues affecting patient and client safety. While ensuring that professionals are able to benefit from their rights to free movement, regulators must also ensure that the few with impaired fitness to practise do not put patients at risk.. European legislation must give regulators the tools to enable them to do this.

For crossborder healthcare to be safe and effective, greater information must be available for patients, professionals and regulators. In AURE's response to the European Commission's consultation (launched on 23 January), we called on the European Commission to propose a legal duty on regulators across the EU to exchange registration and disciplinary information and to act on it. This action, supporting the role of national regulators, would make a real contribution to enhancing patient safety in the EU.