NURSING QUALIFICATIONS (EEC RECOGNITION) ORDER 1979 (Hansard, 22 November 1979)

§ Lord CULLEN of ASHBOURNE
My Lords, I beg to move that the draft Nursing Qualifications (EEC Recognition) Order 1979, laid before the House on 6th November, be approved. As noble Lords will recall, my noble friend Lord Sandys introduced a draft of this order, which was then debated in this House on 24th July 1979. That draft was in a form appropriate to the circumstances of that time, when, as noble Lords will recall, Her Majesty was absent from the United Kingdom and Counsellors of State were appointed to summon and hold on Her Majesty's behalf her Privy Council, and to signify thereat Her Majesty's approval to instruments such as the present one, Unfortunately, owing to the timing of Parliamentary business immediately before the Summer Recess, it was not possible for the Privy Council, when it met on 26th July, to consider the order, because at that time all the stages of consideration in another place had not been completed. In consequence, the draft has had to be revised and put into what is known as Queen's Form, and I have been advised that before it is put to the Privy Council again the order has to he approved again by resolutions of both Houses.
It is the Government's hope that this order—which, when it was debated in July, commanded the support of the Opposition—can complete its course through both Houses before the Privy Council meets on 19th December. I must apologise to this House for having to ask it to take a second bite at this cherry. I can assure the House, however, that the order is in all other respects the same as the one that was debated in July, and that no substantive change has been made to its provisions. When my noble friend Lord Sandys introduced the order in July he dealt in detail with its provisions. While I should be happy to deal with any point about the background 312 and implications of the order on which noble Lords would like clarification, I think it would he inappropriate to go over the ground which has already been covered. It is all on the record. However, for the benefit of any noble Lords to whom the order may be unfamiliar, I should like to remind the House briefly of its principal purpose.
This order gives effect to two Directives, the first concerned with the mutual recognition of qualifications and right of establishment, the second concerned with the content of the training which leads up to the award of those qualifications which are to he recognised. The aim of these two documents is quite simple: to ensure that nurses responsible for general care—and I must emphasise that we are here speaking only of registered general nurses, not those trained specifically in the care of the mentally ill or mentally handicapped—will in future, throughout the Community, have undergone a comparable form of training, covering the same theoretical subjects and including the same practical experience, so that their training can be recognised by all Member States and they can practise freely in any country of the Community. For the United Kingdom, as I have said, this means relatively minor changes in existing patterns of training. It does however mean that we have to make some equally minor changes in the administrative arrangements which govern the profession.
My Lords, I see the coming into effect of these Directives as an important step for our nurses, in forging closer links with their colleagues in Europe. I hope that they will take advantage of this opportunity, and that nurses from other Member States will come here to see what we have on offer. I beg to move.

§ Lord WELLS-PESTELL
My Lords, we are grateful to the noble Lord the Minister for introducing this instrument relating to EEC regulations concerning nurses' qualifications. As he says, we have covered this ground before—I believe it was some time last July—and there is no need, I think, to say very much at this stage other than that I am very glad, as I am sure other noble Lords will be, 313 to see that, under Section 3B(1) of the Act, A national of a member State who applies to be registered in the general part of the register shall be required, on or after registration in that part, to satisfy the Council that he has the necessary knowledge of English, that is, the knowledge which, in the interests of himself and his patients, is necessary to render nursing services in the United Kingdom ". This is a matter, as I think we are all agreed—and I am thinking of the discussions on this matter that we have had in the past—which is one of supreme importance.
Arising out of that, I note that, in the event of persons being found not qualified by virtue of his lack of understanding of English, they can nevertheless be registered for six months: if, at the end of that period, they have made good the deficiency, then they will be able to start nursing in this country. Once such a nurse has been registered for six months because of inability to speak English, are the Government under an obligation to provide any sort of training in English during that six-month period?
My Lords, there is only one other question. I have been asked to ask the noble Lord the Minister this by the noble Baroness, Lady Hylton-Foster, who wonders whether all the nurses from the EEC who want to come here and register with a view to serving as nurses in the United Kingdom have to have the exact standards of training of the English nurses. My understanding of the situation is that, if a person is a nurse in one of the EEC countries and is registered as such, then that person would be able to obtain registration in this country without difficulty. Can the noble Lord confirm that?

§ Lord CULLEN of ASHBOURNE
My Lords, to answer the noble Lord's two questions, there is no legal requirement for the authorities here to assist nurses in their learning of the English language. I should expect that they would wish to help but they have no legal requirement to do so. As I explained in my speech, the first Directive facilitates the free movement of what are termed "first-level general nurses" by requiring all Member-States, subject to certain conditions, to recognise defined qualifications. It also gives these nurses the right, provided they are EEC nationals and have been trained in an 314 EEC Member-State, to be established and to render services in any other EEC country. The Order in Council implements this Directive in respect of nurses coming to the United Kingdom. The answer therefore is that qualified nurses, who would come with a certificate regarding their qualifications, character and so on, would be accepted in this country.

§ Lord WELLS-PESTELL
My Lords, I am much obliged to the noble Lord.