Polish-speaking nurses to cut UK hospital costs?

Photo: Glowimages

By having Polish-speaking personnel on the roster, such clinics could avoid paying translators up to 37 pounds an hour.

One of the most vocal proponents of the idea is United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust, in Boston, Lincolnshire, in the east of England.

The area is home to “the larger proportion of Eastern European residents than anywhere else in Britain” the daily says. In fact recent census figures show that as many as one in ten of the town’s 64,000 residents is from European Union members in the CEE region such as Poland and Latvia.

“We have a big Eastern European community and the health needs of that population will grow as they age within the UK,” Garry Marsh, deputy chief nurse of United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust, told the UK Mail on Sunday.

It’s not only the aged who need medical assistance, however. Many young mothers are giving birth in UK hospitals.

There currently are just under 2,500 nurses from Poland working in the Britain, but hundreds more are needed. Recruitment drives have already been held in the Polish city of Krakow, as well as other hubs. (rg/jb)