A Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) tribunal has heard how a 38-year-old male nurse from India who failed to help a patient with breathing difficulties after an operation could ‘barely’ speak English – and allegedly refused to learn.

The Daily Mail reports that staff at The Leicester Royal Infirmary – where Biju John worked in the Peri Anaesthetic Care Unit (PACU) – told the NMC that Mr John could not even tell ‘one department from another’ at the hospital. The tribunal also heard that he had ‘a limited knowledge of basic nursing skills’ – and took no action to intervene when a patient who was recovering from an operation developed breathing difficulties.

The council was told that Mr John should have possessed ‘basic airway management’ skills – but another colleague had to ‘rush over’ to the wheezing patient, whose breathing could be heard on the other side of the ward.

Mr John – from Cambridge – had trained in India and began work at the PACU in 2003. Staff said that he had trouble understanding patients and colleagues, although Mr John told the NMC he was able to understand instructions and wrote to the tribunal stating 'I never be confused at all’ (sic).

Representing the NMC, Deborah Baljit said:

‘The predominant concerns were his communication skills and his ability to understand instructions and react to them.

'He did not complete the English lessons he was told to undertake – nor did he ever enrol at the college.  

'He had to take responsibility for taking English lessons but it appears that he failed to do so.’

The tribunal also heard how Mr John nearly caused another patient to go into shock after wearing latex gloves to treat him, despite being advised that the patient was allergic to latex.

The incident happened a few weeks into Mr John’s employment at the PACU and managers devised a set of objectives for him to attain. However, he failed to meet the objectives, which included completing an assessment of basic nursing skills and meeting a required standard of English to enable him to communicate with staff and colleagues.  

Mr John quit one week before a disciplinary hearing in January 2005. He was reported to his regulating body.

Mr John was found guilty of seven charges relating to his lack of competency when he worked at Leicester Royal Infirmary between July 2003 and December 2004. He was cleared of mistaking the Surgical Assessment Unit for the Surgical Acute Care Unit.  

The hearing continues.

© 5r1 Limited 2010