Romanian nurse hired via Skype put patients at risk

A ROMANIAN nurse hired after being interviewed via Skype put patients’ health at risk because his English was so bad, a tribunal has heard.

Jean Ruxanda did not know the difference between various dressings or drug doses and was forced to try to lip read in the operating theatre to understand what was being said. Consultants and other colleagues at Yeovil District Hospital raised concerns when they discovered Ruxanda could not understand a word they said.

A nurse told the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) that she met Ruxanda to discuss the problem a month after he began working at the hospital, in December 2015. She said he assured her he had arranged to have English lessons. Ruxanda, a band five nurse, was employed as a scrub theatre practitioner after an interview conducted over Skype, following completion of an induction course – normal practice for the hiring of nurses from abroad.

His employment at the hospital was terminated at the end of his probationary period in January 2016, when he was referred to the NMC on the grounds that his fitness to practise may have been impaired. The NMC later sent Ruxanda seven letters insisting he complete an English language assessment. There was no response and it is unclear where he moved to.

Language tests for overseas nurses were introduced in 2007, but until last year, those who came to the UK from EU countries were exempt from them.

New rules in January 2016 required nurses and and midwives from Europe to prove they can speak English well enough to practise safely. But the rules were subsequently relaxed, allowing nurses from overseas to take language exams in two sittings, and use the best scores from each to achieve a pass.

Senior managers and commercial recruiters have recently called for a further weakening of the rules, saying that too many recruits are being turned away for poor English. Regulators are undertaking an assessment of the standards to decide whether to take action. Ruxanda did not attend the hearing having “failed to engage with the NMC” throughout the whole process.

The panel decided he did not have the necessary standard of English to work safely and suspended him for a year.

If Ruxanda, who is believed to be in his native Romania, wishes to work in the UK again, he will have to complete an English language test.