Hospitals appointing doctors from outside EU without assurances of English language skills and police clearance

The HSE is appointing doctors from outside the EU to work in hospitals without having assurances about their competence in the English language or that they had no criminal records in Ireland or abroad, internal auditors have said.

These deficiencies reduce assurance that all staff engaged met required regulatory and governance standards when they were taken on “and give rise to potential regulatory, patient safety and operational risks”, the auditors said in a report published yesterday.

Nearly 28 per cent of doctors in active clinical practice in 2024 held a basic medical degree from outside Ireland, the UK or the EU. More than 2,300 doctors had graduated in Pakistan and 1,200 qualified in Sudan .