Threat to surgeon who spoke out on language barrier

A surgeon who complained that patients' lives could be put at risk by foreign nurses with a poor command of English is facing formal disciplinary action.

David Nunn, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Guy's and St Thomas's Hospital NHS Trust, London, said he was forced to stop halfway through an operation because nurses could not follow his instructions.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council meanwhile confirmed that from next month, all nurses trained outside the European Union who wished to work in Britain would face compulsory English tests.

The move was in response to concerns over the "apparent inconsistency" of language competence among foreign nurses.

Initially, Mr Nunn said his superiors had accused him of racism and threatened him with disciplinary action. Yesterday he told The Telegraph he had become the subject of formal proceedings.

As the trust conducted a "full internal" investigation into the incident last week, Mr Nunn, 48, was said to be waiting to find out on what grounds he faced the disciplinary action.

A spokesman for the trust declined to confirm that Mr Nunn faced the action. But it said in a statement that "none of the evidence" it had gathered so far supported the surgeon's allegations.

Mr Nunn said that when he asked the nurses, all of whom were foreign, to find the surgical instruments he needed to complete an operation last week, he was met "with a selection of bemused reactions".

He claimed they were produced only when the scrub nurse de-scrubbed and went to find them herself. The operation was then successfully completed.

He said: "The world has been scoured for nurses to shore up the health service to achieve arbitrary targets set by the Government.

"All are without doubt well-trained and dedicated professionals, but if medical staff cannot communicate effectively then patients' care may be put at risk."

Acute staff shortages in the NHS have led to an influx of nurses from abroad. Earlier this month the Royal College of Nursing said half of the nurses newly registered in Britain in the year to March - 15,000 - were from overseas.

An NMC spokesman said that from August new applicants would have to achieve a satisfactory score in English proficiency before taking a posting in Britain. But EU regulations prevent nurses from within the EU from being tested.

The hospital trust said in a statement yesterday that it operated "an adaptation programme" for foreign nurses. They had to pass a clinical test involving "an assessment of their written and verbal communication skills".

Patricia Moberly, the trust's chairman, has made no secret of her ambition to promote the trust as a forward-thinking institution where discrimination, racism and harassment are not tolerated.

"Racism" is a crime over there. (I put it in quotes not because there is no such thing, but from this article, it's obvious the definition of racism is stretched to ridiculous and Orwellian limits)

I have worked as a medical transcriptionist for about 15 years, and I can tell you all that it's not just nurses who can't speak English very well--and it's not only the "foreign" doctors. I can well imagine that in some operating rooms, it's the doctors who cannot be understood because they mumble or are not fluent in English. I'm sure that this issue contributes to problems in patient care as well.

If foreign doctors come here, I just wish they'd learn English better before they start dictating reports and torturing those of us who must transcribe their gibberish. But wait--some of the native-borns are horrible dictators too.

Is this another reason to have a common language, or would it be better to have the patients die in order that the medical field can be PC.

You know the real shame is that any problem caused by lack of a common language during a medical operation will be the ‘fault’ of the doctor. The doctor is always in charge of an operation; therefore the doctor is the one who carries the blame for any problem. Maybe this is why the doctor is concerned.

No doubt, anyone who immigrates to an English-speaking country should be required to speak English.

However, "colloquial" British speech is another matter. When I worked in an NHS Hospital in 1976, the locals tortured me with medical "Britishisms" which you would have to grow up there to know.

I understand that, within orthopedics in the UK there are many localized, nonstandard terms for tools and OR equipment.

It is usually the case that nurses trained in fomer British colonies have both superb technical skills and a superb command of standard English.

This surgeon may be a hero-but I'm not so sure as the rest of you.

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