Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
In its consultation on draft amendments to the responsible officer role, the DH said language checking should form part of pre-appointment checks by responsible officers to ensure patients are not put at risk by someone who could not communicate clearly in English.
While EU law currently prevents the Government writing this into the regulations, the DH said they are ‘continuing to explore’ the details of whether mandatory language checks could be written into legislation.
They are also proposing to give the NHS Commissioning Board the power to issue guidance on language checks, which responsible officers will have to follow.
http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/dh-to-p...check-gp-language-competency/20001286.article
Makes a lot of sense to me. I am a linguist and used to communicating with people who do not have English as their first language, but some of the HCPs I have dealt with - including some consultants - have been practically impenetrable, making it very difficult.
Ridiculous that this should be prohibited by EU Law!
While EU law currently prevents the Government writing this into the regulations, the DH said they are ‘continuing to explore’ the details of whether mandatory language checks could be written into legislation.
They are also proposing to give the NHS Commissioning Board the power to issue guidance on language checks, which responsible officers will have to follow.
http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/dh-to-p...check-gp-language-competency/20001286.article
Makes a lot of sense to me. I am a linguist and used to communicating with people who do not have English as their first language, but some of the HCPs I have dealt with - including some consultants - have been practically impenetrable, making it very difficult.
Ridiculous that this should be prohibited by EU Law!