An international investigation revealed that several doctors who were barred from practising medicine abroad due to misconduct are reportedly still treating patients in Belgium.
The investigation was conducted by De Tijd in collaboration with media from 44 countries. It involved the collection and comparison of over 2.5 million names of both licensed and disqualified healthcare professionals.
The findings reveal that doctors banned in countries like the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and France are still listed in Belgium’s official medical registries.
These registries include the Order of Physicians, the Ministry of Health, and the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (Riziv).
The cases involve general practitioners, specialists, dentists, and psychotherapists. Offences range from sexual assault and inappropriate sexual conduct with patients to large-scale social security fraud and dangerously poor medical competence.
In several instances, healthcare professionals disqualified elsewhere were found to be actively practising in Belgium.
A key issue is the ineffective use of the European warning system known as the Internal Market Information System (IMI). The Belgian Order of Physicians admits there is no synchronisation between the IMI system and its own list of registered doctors.
Additionally, alerts generated by the IMI are neither systematically investigated nor enforced.
In response to the investigation, Federal Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit) called on Thursday in a press release for the establishment of "control mechanisms" and the definition of "a clear framework within which every practitioner can and must practise."
He added: "Guaranteeing quality care for everyone and protecting the interests and rights of each patient at all times should be a matter of course for all healthcare providers in our country and elsewhere – whether they are Belgian nationals or from another country."
