Plymouth doctor suspended for failing 10th English test
A Polish heart doctor who lives in Plymouth has been suspended again after failing his 10th English test. Dr Tomasz Fryzlewicz moved to the UK in 2006 from Krakow and has worked at various NHS hospitals as a locum and in non-clinical roles analysing echocardiogram data for clinical trials.
But the cardiologist still can’t master the lingo and has repeatedly failed to prove he can speak, write or even understand English to a required level. Dr Fryzlewicz, who has 39 years of experience, was reported to the General Medical Council (GMC) in 2014 after continually failing English language tests under the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).
He has since appeared before fitness-to-practise medicine panels every year - repeatedly failing each exam re-sit - despite stressing he’s been watching BBC TV and listening to Radio 4 to improve his English. And now, at a hearing of the Medical Practitioners Service in Manchester, Dr Fryzlewicz was suspended for 12 months and offered another chance to pass his exams after he failed to produce any certificates.
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Dr Fryzlewicz can’t be struck off by the GMC over language issues, but instead he will face his 11th review hearing next year. Dr Fryzlewicz, however, claimed he had been the victim of a “witch-hunt” and said: “This is incorrect political pressure on doctors.”
He declined to attend the hearing and emailed the MPTS claiming he could not afford a barrister to represent him. The doctor also blasted GMC investigators as “un-humanitarian bureaucrats” claiming he was a victim of “indirect discrimination” due to his nationality and said “revenge was being sought” as he was “a Polish, Catholic cardiologist consultant earning money in UK hospitals.”
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 before being offered a post at the John Radcliffe Hospital, in Oxford. That offer fell through after he sent various emails in broken English in which he wrote of sending a “massage” and wrote: “I still don’t get answer and nobody contact with me.”
Dr Fryzlewicz first took the IELTS test in October 2014 and was required to get a minimum score of 7.5 but only achieved an overall mark of just 5.5. He took another test but only scored 6.5. He re-sat again the following year but got 5.5 again.
After being originally reported to the GMC he was initially allowed to work under supervision. But at his third tribunal, in 2017, he was suspended for six months after failing to improve his English.
He was readmitted to work under supervision in 2018 but banned again in 2020 for 12 months, with another 10-month ban in 2021. In 2022 Dr Fryzlewicz was allowed back into medical practice, but with a condition he successfully passed the exam within the next 18 months - at the eighth time of asking.
His latest overall test results were 5.5 and 6.0 in January 2023 and July 2023 respectively. 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.
Counsel for the GMC, Emma Gilsenan, said: “Dr Fryzlewicz’s attitude towards the regulator and the requirement that he must attain the minimum standard of English, 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.”
MPTS chairman Mr Sean Kyne said: “There is no evidence Dr Fryzlewicz has a good command of the English language. He continues to focus on what he perceives to be the unfairness of his circumstances and his mistaken belief that the level of his English language is at the required standard to be able to practise medicine safely in the UK.”
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