I totally understand why patients want to communicate with doctors in English
ELEVEN years ago when concerns were being expressed about the then labour government’s tendency to import doctors and nurses from other countries, Alan Duncan, who was my deputy in shadow health, voiced the opinion that it was vital that any such workers could speak fluent English.
At once he was condemned as racist. Presumably the same allegation will not be aimed at Lord Winston, who rightly worries about the impact on patients of being nursed by people who cannot communicate in English.
Last year I turned down the PM’s invitation to take up the post of ambassador to the Holy See because I suffered a detached retina and wanted the after-care to be in Britain.
“But they have wonderful hospitals in Italy,” protested one journalist.
“Yes,” I agreed. “But I don’t speak Italian and if you had gone blind in one eye and time was of the essence
you would want to be able to communicate very clearly and very quickly. I can’t afford for something to go wrong and not to be able to talk to the first doctor I see.”
I can’t afford for something to go wrong and not to be able to talk to the first doctor I see
Now it seems that Brits don’t have to go to foreign climes to experience that problem. It is likely to be down the road in their local hospitals.