Medicine and the Common Market

Abstract

Medicine and the Common Market SIR,-Sir David Campbell (September 1, p. 561) reminds us that the Medical Acts were introduced for the benefit of the public not of the profession, and this is not without relevance in the question of the extension of licensing privileges. Whether Lord Cohen of Birkenhead (August 18, p. 475) is correct in thinking that medical standards are lower in the Common Market countries or Dr. G. Schoenewald (September 1, p. 606) that doctors from these countries find English diflicult is immaterial. The doctor who cannot communicate with his patient is no more help to him than one whose medical knowledge is deficient. As the complexity of medical treatment increases, the nmedical schools of the world mutltiply, and travel becomes easier, one wonders if the General Medical Council is still maintaining its function of enabling the public to distinguish properly