The Australian Minister for Immigration, Kevin Andrews, says the public cannot be confident about the screening procedures for overseas-trained doctors. Andrews has called for all state and territory medical boards to review the procedures they use to vet overseas-trained doctors before registering them to practice.
The move raises doubts about the processes used to check more than 4000 foreign doctors in Australia, many of whom work under limited supervision in country areas. About 1500 overseas-trained doctors work in NSW hospitals.
In a letter drafted for state medical boards, Andrews has hit out at what he says is "less than thorough employment vetting processes" that put at risk the integrity of the migration system.
His intervention follows the failure of terrorism charges against the Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef and the subsequent revelation that his colleague, Dr Mohammed Asif Ali, was found to have exaggerated his medical credentials and employment history.
"In order for Australians to have confidence in their overseas-trained doctors, they need to have full confidence that these doctors have undergone a rigorous assessment process," Mr Andrews writes in a letter expected to go to medical boards today.
"Given this case, I do not believe that Australians can be fully confident in the assessment system that currently exists.
He says the case "has highlighted to the Australian Government the risk to Australians' quality of health through inconsistent registration processes across different jurisdictions and less than thorough employment vetting processes".
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