A NURSE who put the public at risk because her English was so bad has been suspended for 12 months, a tribunal has heard.

Ana-Roxana Savu went for a nursing job at Poole Hospital last year.

But the nurse at the hospital who conducted the interview was so concerned about Mrs Savu’s ability to communicate in English, she ended it after just five questions and contacted the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

Despite the regulator contacting Mrs Savu on September 26 last year, directing her to complete a language test, the correspondence was ignored.

An NMC’s conduct and competence committee in London, which Mrs Savu did not attend, heard in more than two-and-a-half years the Poole Hospital recruiter had conducted many interviews with registered nurses with whom English is not their first language but ‘this was the first time she made such a referral as a result of concern about a nurse’s knowledge of English.’

The interviewer said when Mrs Savu was asked to describe her professional experience, she began to have doubts about her communication skills but she was unable to answer even when asked specifically about her experiences when training as a nurse.

The panel also received a reference from a previous employer which ‘suggested that Mrs Savu’s employment with them from 22 December 2014 to 13 December 2015 had not been satisfactory, partly because of her below average language skills.’

Her fitness to practise as a nurse was ‘impaired’, the committee said.

The committee added: “These are serious charges, especially given the significant risk of harm to which patients might be exposed to by Mrs Savu’s inability to communicate effectively. As she has not proved that she has the necessary knowledge of English, the panel was satisfied that there is a risk to the public and that Mrs Savu is impaired by reason of her lack of knowledge of English.

“Furthermore, the panel determined that a finding of impairment by reason of a lack of knowledge of English was also in the public interest. To find otherwise would undermine public confidence in the nursing profession and in the NMC.”

It added: “Mrs Savu’s fitness to practise is currently impaired by reason of her misconduct, and by lack of knowledge of English necessary to enable her to practise safely and effectively.”