Saturday, September 28, 2024 – A Polish heart doctor working in the NHS has been suspended after failing a tenth attempt to pass English exams.
According to Mail Online, it's the fifth attempt in 18 years
for Dr Tomasz Fryzlewicz, 65, after colleagues struggled
to understand him at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, Essex,
University College London Hospital, Royal Stoke University Hospital
and the Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield.
Despite being branded a danger to patients the medic, who
moved to the UK in 2006, claims he has been the victim of a 'witch hunt'.
Dr Fryzlewicz was first reported to the General Medical
Council (GMC) in 2014 for his language issues.
He was ordered to report to the doctors' regulator on an
annual basis and later insisted he watched TV and listened to the radio in a
bid to pick up better English.
Initially, Dr Fryzlewicz, from Plymouth, was allowed to work
in hospitals under supervision. But at his third employment tribunal in
2017, he was suspended from practice for six months after failing to improve
his English.
He was readmitted under supervision in 2018 but was banned
again in 2020 for 12 months. In 2021, the cardiologist was laid off for a
further ten months.
Dr Fryzlewicz was allowed back to work in 2022 with a
condition he successfully passed an English exam within the next 18 months.
But by 2023 he was banned again for 12 months and given a ninth
opportunity to take them again after failing the tests twice in eight months.
At his latest tribunal, Dr Fryzlewicz was suspended for a
year and offered another chance to pass his exams.
He cannot be struck off over language issues but will face a
hearing next year.
Some colleagues who worked with Dr Fryzlewicz have claimed
they weren't always sure he understood what they said.
Dr Simon Woldman, clinical director of specialised
cardiology at Barts NHS Trust told a tribunal in 2014: 'When I spoke to Dr
Fryzlewicz, I was never really sure that he had understood the instructions he
was being given...
'When [he] spoke, you had to concentrate quite hard to
understand what he was saying.'
Earlier Fryzlewicz had condemned GMC investigators as
'un-humanitarian bureaucrats' and also claimed he was a victim of 'indirect
discrimination' due to his nationality.
He said 'revenge was being sought' as he was a Polish,
Catholic cardiologist consultant earning money in UK hospitals.
In his missive, Fryzlewicz wrote: '[The] accusation that my
English language skills were insufficient to work in NHS has been recognised as
false by many consultants of medicine who worked with me in many hospitals.
'All documents proving this have been many times shown by me
to [medical employment tribunal body] the MPTS.'
Dr Fryzlewicz had initially been fired from the Princess
Alexandra Hospital in Harlow and University College London Hospital due to
concerns about his language skills.
Counsel for the GMC Miss Emma Gilsenan told the hearing: 'Dr
Fryzlewicz's attitude towards the regulator and the requirement that he must
attain the minimum standard of the English language to practise medicine in the
UK, is concerning.
'His communications show he is more focused on what he
believes to be political and religious persecution by the GMC, rather than on
addressing the concerns in this case.
'There has been no progress since the case was last reviewed
in 2023 and there was no evidence of insight and remediation.
'The requirements upon him are no different to any other
doctor despite his feeling that he was being persecuted by the GMC.'
MPTS chairman Mr Sean Kyne said: 'There is no evidence
before the Tribunal that Dr Fryzlewicz has a good command of the English
language, in the form of satisfactory test scores.
'The Tribunal was disappointed Dr Fryzlewicz has not
provided any evidence to demonstrate what he had done to address the matters
giving rise to the concerns in this case.
'To progress and move forward positively, he will need to
change his focus to the present and his future opportunities to practise.'
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