Recent statistics released by the UK General Medical Council reveals an unpleasant reputation for Nigeria-trained doctors practising in the United Kingdom.According to the figures released under the Freedom of Information Request by Daily Mail UK, three-quarters of the doctors struck off the General Medical Council (GMC) register in the past five years are foreign-trained.
India-trained doctors top the list of foreign-trained doctors to be struck off the GMC register in the past five years and Nigeria-trained doctors rank second. Egypt trained doctors rank third on the list.
The figures show that in UK, 194 of the 285 doctors struck off for misconduct or incompetence in the past five years were foreign-trained, while 29 of the 39 removed from the medical register in the past year received their medical degree overseas.
This data from the GMC focuses on the number of doctors struck off in Britain since 2008.
On the reverse side, doctors from countries like Hong Kong and New Zealand have clean records. Hong Kong has the best record, with none of more than 700 doctors working in the UK struck off or disciplined in the past five years while New Zealand’s 600 medics also have a clean record.
In July 2010, a Nigerian, Dr Jerome Ikwueke was suspended for 18 months because he failed to spot that a 17 month old boy was being abused. Dr Ikwueke, who was suspended in the wake of the little boy’s death, said he made a ‘serious error of judgment’ in the case of Peter Connelly, who died in one of the worst cases of abuse ever seen in the UK.
Based on the statistics, Dr Vivienne Nathanson, of the British Medical Association, said: “It is clear that doctors who have qualified overseas are more likely to be subject to disciplinary action. However, more research is needed to understand why this is the case.
“The UK is still short of doctors and so we must ensure that those who come from overseas are given adequate support to be able to practise medicine in the UK.”
This statistics again raises doubts over the educational standards in Nigeria.
via @ Bellanaija.com
