Agencies planning to place medical staff from the European Union (EU) accession countries into jobs after May 1 face delays because of uncertainty over their qualifications.

From next month, medical staff from the 10 new member states automatically qualify for work within the EU.

However, the General Medical Council (GMC) has expressed concern at the failure of the European Commission and the Department of Health (DoH) to state whether professional standards in each of the 10 countries actually meet EU requirements.

A spokesperson for the DoH said: “It is for the regulatory bodies to ensure that medical staff who come from abroad to work here are properly qualified. We will do what we can to help them work with the European Commission.”

Consequently the GMC is refusing to register doctors and nurses without first making proper checks in the UK on health workers’ qualifications, experience and employment history. This could lead to serious delays in recruitment.

Tom Hadley, head of external relations at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), the industry trade body, said: “This means that recruitment agencies will not be able to place doctors and other medical staff into jobs after the 1 May date for EU accession. I understand that there are similar issues with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.”