§ 58. Mr. Evelyn Kingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has noted the Coroner's report of the death of a cancer patient in St. Pancras Hospital in April last, following misunderstandings or argument over the operating table, between an English surgeon and an immigrant anaesthetist; what evidence he has as to the difficulties encountered by immigrant doctors in respect of language, or temperament, or of unfamiliarity with English conditions; and if he will institute an inquiry.
§ Sir K. JosephI think my hon. Friend is referring to events at Bethnal Green Hospital. The Regional Hospital Board is undertaking an inquiry into the case and I cannot comment on it at present. Immigrant doctors sometimes encounter initial difficulties, which the arrangements for attachment to a hospital consultant before employment help them to overcome. The General Medical Council is undertaking a review of the arrangements for registering overseas doctors and I do not think any other general inquiry is appropriate.