I think I have read on this and various other forums in the past about the importance of be able to speak Bulgarian to have a better life when in Bulgaria
The following text may be of a worry if any of us are in hospital in the UK being treated and/or looked after by hospital staff who can't speak the International language of the world, ENGLISH

Nurses who can't speak English put patients in danger: Lord Winston's stark warning over NHS workers from Romania and Bulgaria
Some nurses do not understand basic phrases including 'nil by mouth'
Strict EU laws mean nurses coming in from European countries cannot be tested on language skills

By Sophie Borland

Last updated at 8:00 AM on 9th September 2011

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Nurses from Eastern Europe put NHS patients in danger because they can’t speak proper English, one of Britain’s top doctors has warned.
Lord Winston said yesterday that he was particularly worried about those from Romania and Bulgaria who had limited communication skills ‘even in their own language’.
He told the House of Lords they had been trained in a ‘completely different way’ to British nurses, and were not used to speaking to doctors or their own patients.
Language barrier: Fertility expert Lord Winston has warned that nurses who cannot speak English pose a grave danger to patients (picture posed by model)
Lord Winston, professor of fertility studies at Imperial College London, warned that these poor communication skills were becoming widespread across the NHS and could only worsen if action wasn’t taken.
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Under strict EU laws, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) watchdog is banned from testing nurses coming in from European countries on either their language or clinical skills.
Such tests are deemed to restrict the ‘free movement of labour’ – the same rules apply to doctors.
Clear communication: Lord Winston said nurses must be able to understand their patients
Some countries, however, including France, get round the rules by ensuring candidates are tested by local health boards rather than a national watchdog.

As the tests are not at a national level, they are not deemed to break the rules.
Lord Winston’s views were later supported by Lord Kakkar, who is a surgeon.

He told peers the situation was ‘intolerable’.
‘It is not right for fellow practitioners to have to work with these individuals,’ he said.
‘But most of all it is not right for citizens of our country, who at times when they are unwell and becoming patients in our healthcare systems need to be absolutely certain that the practitioners to whom they are exposed are competent, meet the standards required of medical practitioners in our country and therefore can with certainty provide the quality of care that citizens in our country deserve.’
Hearing evidence at the Lords’ inquiry into free EU movement of medical workers, the peers were told that patients were being put at risk by incompetent doctors and nurses who cannot speak English or understand basic medical terms such as ‘nil by mouth’.
Lord Winston said his own experience working abroad had shown him that nurses from Eastern Europe were not used to communicating with doctors or patients.
‘That communication between the patient and the professional is of vital importance,’ he said.

‘We run the risk of losing it with this issue of nurses who can’t speak the English language.’
The number of European nurses registering to work in Britain has doubled since strict checks on their competence – including language skills – were scrapped last October. In the first five months alone, almost 1,500 new nurses arrived.
The General Medical Council said that 22,060 – around 10 per cent – of doctors licensed to work in the UK were from the European Economic Area, including 1,862 doctors who qualified in Romania and 722 with Bulgarian qualifications.
In one case, a GMC spokesman said, a foreign doctor’s husband contacted the council to register her because she could not speak English herself


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That's somewhat worrying

I,d have said it was VERY worrying......

I was recently in hospital in Stoke-on-Trent and my nurse was a Bulgarian staff nurse who took great care of me and was able to speak excellent English so I think it depends on the hospital and the staff?

Absolute rubbish if you ask me there are many different nationalities in the health service some speak very good English and others don't and its not restricted to the Bulgarians in fact there are quite a few English who don't understand the English language and lets be honest there are also a lot of Asians in the NHS who I for one find them hard to understand ::

Gimp wrote:

Absolute rubbish if you ask me there are many different nationalities in the health service some speak very good English and others don't and its not restricted to the Bulgarians in fact there are quite a few English who don't understand the English language and lets be honest there are also a lot of Asians in the NHS who I for one find them hard to understand ::

Gimp, I have to beg to differ on your comment that the article is Absolute rubbish. If you look at the text it refers to Romanians and Bulgarians not Asians
Unless I have got it wrong I think that you referring to the English not understanding the English language which is probably correct, but surely the most important thing is to be able to communicate. I am not in a position to make judgement because I have not been hospitalised for a few years now (thank goodness) but I have been involved with members of my family and been by their bedside and I must admit I have on occasions found it difficult to understand what was being said. A neighbour came out of hospital last week after a major operation and said I couldn't get out of there quick enough, it was like being in a foreign hospital
As Ashley has already said he was treated and looked after very well by a Bulgarian Nurse, and I am very pleased that he was, but the article is not about a particular hospital it is as far as I can see a general observation of the NHS and the ability to speak English

I agree to a point but I'm afraid this isn't really just limited to Bulgarians and Romanians as I said there are quite a few that it applies too.

Gimp wrote:

I agree to a point but I'm afraid this isn't really just limited to Bulgarians and Romanians as I said there are quite a few that it applies too.

A follow up published in today's Sofia Echo

Eastern European nurses could be putting patients of the UK's National Health Service at risk because of their inadequate command of English, according to renowned doctor Lord Winston, quoted in the Daily Mail.

Lord Winston, a professor, medical doctor, Labour member of the house of lords, scientist and television presenter, was quoted as saying that he was "
particularly worried about those from Romania and Bulgaria who had limited communication skills even in their own language"
.

He went on to tell the house of lords they had been trained in a "
completely different way"
to British nurses, and were not used to speaking to doctors or their own patients.

According to the Daily Mail, the General Medical Council has said that 22 060 – around 10 per cent – of doctors licensed to work in the UK were from the European Economic Area, including 1862 doctors who qualified in Romania and 722 with Bulgarian qualifications.

The story was also splashed over the front page of the Daily Mail's hard copy edition

OK so what's new here.

I can remember being in hospital over 40 Years ago and it was the same then, and to the best of my knowledge I cannot see any change. As long as the NHS try and fiddle the books and keep bringing in agency staff it will not change.

So what is wrong with the people that are getting treatment, lost their tongues, is it that hard to say 'Just what are you saying' or who is your supervisor.

Similar thing happened with the Banks and Insurance companies using Overseas call centres. So many people have complained (me being one) that they are gradually being brought back to the UK. Even the Tax office is in Newcastle Why I.

tonyb60 wrote:

OK so what's new here.

I can remember being in hospital over 40 Years ago and it was the same then, and to the best of my knowledge I cannot see any change. As long as the NHS try and fiddle the books and keep bringing in agency staff it will not change.

So what is wrong with the people that are getting treatment, lost their tongues, is it that hard to say 'Just what are you saying' or who is your supervisor.

Similar thing happened with the Banks and Insurance companies using Overseas call centres. So many people have complained (me being one) that they are gradually being brought back to the UK. Even the Tax office is in Newcastle Why I.

I agree, there is not a lot new here tony, but I must admit it does worry me if the staff in hospitals don't understand or can't speak English
Imagine going into the operating theatre for a tonsil operation and coming round to find you are minus your testicles :Great:I don't think

willowsend wrote:

tonyb60 wrote:

OK so what's new here.

I can remember being in hospital over 40 Years ago and it was the same then, and to the best of my knowledge I cannot see any change. As long as the NHS try and fiddle the books and keep bringing in agency staff it will not change.

So what is wrong with the people that are getting treatment, lost their tongues, is it that hard to say 'Just what are you saying' or who is your supervisor.

Similar thing happened with the Banks and Insurance companies using Overseas call centres. So many people have complained (me being one) that they are gradually being brought back to the UK. Even the Tax office is in Newcastle Why I.

I agree, there is not a lot new here tony, but I must admit it does worry me if the staff in hospitals don't understand or can't speak English
Imagine going into the operating theatre for a tonsil operation and coming round to find you are minus your testicles :Great:I don't think

Now that may be a good cure for some of the rioters Plus it reminds me of a good news bad news joke, but it is so old it must have hairs growing on it

[size=55:7rlr04as]novinite

UK Turns Out Quite Keen on Bulgarian Doctors, Nurses

Britain has announced 25,000 vacancies for doctors and nurses, the European network of employment EURES shows, running counter to British media reports, which condemn migrant workers in the medical sector.

"
There has been a brisk demand for Bulgarian doctors and nurses in the United Kingdom over the last five years,"
said Daniela Piryankova from the state Employment Agency.

Among those with the biggest chances to get the desired job are emergency physicians (salary 55-70 thousand pounds a year), haematologists (salary 55-65 thousand a year), radiologists, ophthalmologists, pathologists. The payment for dentists is about 33 pounds per hour.

"
Many Bulgarians apply, but it takes time to obtain a permit and besides the compulsory registration in the General Medical Council delays further the procedure,"
Piryankova added.

The information comes amid numerous reports in British media, which claim nurses from Bulgaria put patients in UK in danger because they can't speak proper English or understand basic medical terms such as 'nil by mouth'.

Speaking at the House of Lords at the beginning of September, Lord Winston, one of Britain's top doctors, voiced concerns over nurses coming from Eastern Europe, Bulgaria and Romania in particular, who had limited communication skills 'even in their own language'.

Meanwhile a colleague of his described the situation as "
intolerable"
.

Lord Kakkar, a surgeon, told the peers that "
[the patients] need to be absolutely certain that the practitioners to whom they are exposed are competent, meet the standards required of medical practitioners in our country and therefore can with certainty provide the quality of care that citizens in our country deserve."