<div dir="ltr"><h1>Easier language tests for foreign nurses may be introduced to overcome the NHS' staffing shortage crisis</h1>
<ul class="gmail-mol-bullets-with-font"><li class="gmail-"><strong>Managers are lobbying for the pass grade to be lowered from seven to 6.5 points</strong></li><li class="gmail-"><strong>Some are concerned strong candidates will favour the US' lower requirements</strong></li><li class="gmail-"><strong>They also say requirements are 'unjustified' and put people off the profession</strong></li><li class="gmail-"><strong>Yet, others argue strong communication is paramount to effective patient care</strong></li><li class="gmail-"><strong>The Nursing and Midwifery Council will discuss the topic at a meeting next week</strong></li></ul><p class="gmail-author-section gmail-byline-plain">By
<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Alexandra+Thompson+Health+Reporter+For+Mailonline" class="gmail-author" rel="nofollow">Alexandra Thompson Health Reporter For Mailonline</a>
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<span class="gmail-article-timestamp-label">Published:</span>
09:39 EDT, 22 May 2017
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<span class="gmail-article-timestamp-label">Updated:</span>
21:04 EDT, 22 May 2017
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</div></div> <p class="gmail-imageCaption">Dr Daniel Ubani killed David
Gray in 2008 after giving him ten times the correct amount of
diamorphine at his home in Cambridgeshire while he worked as a locum</p></div><p class="gmail-mol-para-with-font">Easier
language tests may be given to foreign nurses as hospital managers warn
too many are being turned away on their basis of their English.</p><p class="gmail-mol-para-with-font">Senior managers and recruitment agencies are campaigning for regulators to reduce the pass rate.</p><p class="gmail-mol-para-with-font">The
Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which regulates more than 680,000
nurses and midwives, is gathering information concerning whether the
tests should be changed, which will be discussed at a board meeting
later this week.</p><p class="gmail-mol-para-with-font">Yet, some are concerned compromising standards could hinder patient safety. </p><p class="gmail-mol-para-with-font">One
in 10 NHS nursing positions is unfilled, with 13 per cent of the
workforce coming from overseas, according to statistics from the
Institute of Employment Studies published last year. </p><p class="gmail-mol-para-with-font">A petition to reduce the pass rate from seven to 6.5, out of a possible nine, has been signed by more than 3,600 nurses. </p><p class="gmail-mol-para-with-font">The
importance of fluency in English was exposed by the 2008 death of David
Gray, 70, at the hands of German GP Daniel Ubani, who had flown in to
do his first locum shift.</p><p class="gmail-mol-para-with-font">He had not
faced any checks on his competence or ability to speak English and gave
the pensioner from Cambridgeshire ten times the safe dose of
diamorphine.</p><p class="gmail-mol-para-with-font">The laws have since been tightened, but repeated cases have shown mistakes still happen. </p></div><div style="overflow:hidden;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-align:left;text-decoration:none;border-width:medium;border-style:none;border-color:currentcolor"><br>Read more: <a style="color:rgb(0,51,153)" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4530118/Easier-language-tests-foreign-nurses-introduced.html#ixzz4hukFJCla">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4530118/Easier-language-tests-foreign-nurses-introduced.html#ixzz4hukFJCla</a>
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