These doctors did not gain entry to Swedish medical programs due to bottom results on the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test and lacked approved grades in important subjects, Ekots granskning reported. Under an EU directive, they automatically receive Swedish medical licenses, but several have later been flagged by employers for patient safety risks. The exact number of doctors reported as potentially dangerous remains unknown.
The government recently tasked the National Board of Health and Welfare with investigating national support for healthcare providers in recruiting doctors, such as a test, according to official sources. This assignment is to be reported only after one year. Healthcare Minister Elisabet Lann told Ekot that regions can start implementing measures now, though specific national support details are still under development.
It becomes very strange if regions are forced to reassess an authority decision that issuing licenses entails. Should one do the same with other authority decisions too?
Johan Kaarme, head of the healthcare and social care department at SKR, questions that regions are expected to control, reassess, and compensate for an authority's decision, according to official sources. He believes the National Board of Health and Welfare and the government have long been aware of the problems. The National Board of Health and Welfare is reviewing how support to healthcare providers can be developed and processes applications based on current regulations in a legally secure manner. How regions will implement quality controls before the board's report in one year is unclear, and actions taken since awareness of the issues have not been specified.
Yes, I think it is reasonable and maybe even, if I may dare to say, necessary. Because there are, regardless of other knowledge requirements, certain things one needs to know that are national, even if one is educated. Knowledge of the Swedish healthcare system, Swedish legislation, clinical working methods and clinical practice, and so on. Besides language and communication.