Switzerland puts brakes on EU doctors

The Swiss House of Representatives has put the brakes on a further opening up of Switzerland to medical practitioners from the European Union.

The Swiss House of Representatives has put the brakes on a further opening up of Switzerland to medical practitioners from the European Union.

To combat a surfeit of doctors, the House adopted a temporary licensing system in which local authorities would have to prove that only an EU doctor could be found to fill a vacancy.

Although the legal revision was passed by 124 votes to 47, the measure is only valid for three years. The Senate has rejected it twice, so the last word has yet to be spoken.

The bilateral accords between Switzerland and the EU, which will be put to a national referendum in May, would, theoretically permit 2000 foreign doctors employed by Swiss hospitals to open up private practices.

But because Switzerland has few restrictions on foreign doctors training here, a further influx of doctors at present residing in the EU is feared by some members of parliament.

Switzerland already has one of the highest per capita densities of doctors in the world and despite steady efforts to keep health costs are still spiralling, despite efforts to keep them down.

The interior minister, Ruth Dreifuss, who is responsible for health matters, said the bilateral accords could lead to SFr2 billion more in health costs annually.

Dreifuss spoke of a paradoxical market in which increased supply led to higher demand.

By Peter Haller