Swiss hospitals urge faster recognition of foreign medical qualifications

Cost-cutting measures in the federal administration as part of a broader belt-tightening policy is behind the delay in recognising foreign doctors' diplomas. Keystone-SDA

Foreign doctors wishing to work in a Swiss hospital have to wait several months for their diplomas to be recognised. This situation is untenable, the Swiss hospital association H+ said on Thursday.

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If hospitals are unable to replace retiring specialists in good time, the safety of care will be compromised, H+ added. The delay in recognising foreign diplomas can be explained by an increase in the number of applications and by absences in the federal department responsible for reviewing them.

+ Doctor shortage: ‘We will have to turn patients away’

These factors in the delay were confirmed to news agency Keystone-SDA by the Federal Office of Public Health. Due to cost-cutting measures, the office has not been able to take on new staff.

As far as it is financially possible, the public health office will increase staff resources, simplify processes and continue efforts at digitalisation, it said. “By the end of the year, the backlog should be cleared and processing times reduced to less than three months,” the public health office added.

Translated from French with DeepL/gw

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