Mail Foreign Nurse Xenophobia

[Update at end of post]

One instinctively knows when the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre is riding one of his hobbyhorses when the Daily Mail refuses to feature the same lead story as the rest of the press pack, choosing instead to push its own agenda. So it is this morning, with most papers leading on the horrific school killings in Peshawar, where at least 130 children were murdered by the Pakistani Taliban.

What's f***ing wrong with kicking the NHS, c***?!? Er, with the greatest of respect, Mr Jay

This, though, was relegated to the inside pages as the Mail decided once again to kick those dastardly foreigners: “4 IN 5 NURSES ON NHS WARDS ARE FOREIGN” thundered the headline. And, so what? Who gives the proverbial flying foxtrot what nationality the nurses are? Can they do the job? Are the patients happy about that? Can the NHS carry on as before? What’s Dacre’s beef?

Ah well. All those Daily Mail readers are having the idea fed to them that the new nurses can’t speak English. Or that they can’t speak it very well: “Mail investigation found nurses picked up at recruitment fairs in Portugal struggled to fill out basic forms and needed a translation service ... Legal loophole prevents the Nursing and Midwifery Council checking the English of European nurses before they are registered for NHS work” hint the sub-headings.

The Mail's priority today ...

Yes, they went to Portugal and just “picked up” staff. That means it’s like all those migrant workers queuing for minibuses somewhere in North London. The inference is that Brits are excluded and some kind of people trafficking operation is going on. It isn’t, and, as so often with the Mail, the copy doesn’t support the headline.

The influx of foreign nurses “has sparked fears that some nurses will lack the English language skills to do their jobs properly”. One concerned talking head said “We are concerned that poor English skills may lead to mistakes and misunderstandings when patients are trying to explain their problems”. The Mail asserts “there is a suspicion that some turn a blind eye to poor results”.

... versus every other paper's priority

Even when the Mail tells that “An investigation by the Mail last month found that nurses picked up at recruitment fairs in Portugal struggled to fill out basic forms and needed a translation service”, readers don’t get to find out exactly what they “struggled” with. But the Mail at least concedes “The staffing crisis has come about partly because the Government slashed the numbers of training posts”.

What does Dacre expect the NHS to do in order to staff its hospitals properly? And, while the Vagina Monologue is at it, he might also care to explain today’s Daily Mail Comment, “Why illegal migrants can laugh at the law”. There appears to be no article for this editorial to accompany. Is a suggestion of illegality being made here? More like this is a cheap smear of the EU and Britain’s oldest ally, Portugal.

Paul Dacre, of course, doesn’t give a stuff about the NHS. He goes private.

[UPDATE 1845 hours: one commenter to this post has rumbled Paul Dacre and his attempt to frighten Mail readers into thinking nurses may not be able to communicate in English. This is the relevant text.

"Under EU law, the NMC cannot require evidence of your ability to communicate in English for the purposes of registration. However, you need to make sure that you have sufficient knowledge of English in order to practise professionally (article 53 of the directive). Employers will expect this and have the right to require evidence of English language competence to ensure that they employ nurses and midwives who are able to communicate effectively".

So there is no "loophole", as the article asserts, no way for EU law to be used to allow non-English speaking nurses into the NHS, and, sadly for the Vagina Monologue, no story. I'll be notifying the nice people at Hacked Off that there is another potential breach of the Editor's Code right there.

As the late David English once said, "Bang to rights, Mr Dacre"]