NHS nurse suspended over lack of English language

Animol Puthanpurackal-Thomas was suspended from the profession for 12 months

An NHS nurse whose lack of understanding of English meant she could not care for patients safely has been suspended for 12 months.

Animol Puthanpurackal-Thomas “could not understand” when the care she was giving a patient was queried, a Nursing and Midwifery Council report concluded.

She was employed as a supernumerary nurse at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford between August 2021 and May 2022.

The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, confirmed the nurse had not worked for the trust since May 2022.

A fitness to practice committee was told she struggled with language difficulties during several serious incidents.

Witnesses referred to Ms Puthanpurackal-Thomas's "difficulty with communication, particularly in understanding of English during the incidents that had occurred".

The report, published after the hearing in May, revealed the nurse did not pull an alarm bell after a patient suffered a seizure while she was cleaning them.

'No patient harm'

In her written evidence, Ms Puthanpurackal-Thomas admitted she struggled with the English accent because it was her first time away from her home country.

She claimed she was “not able to make any decisions alone” and had to wait for a senior nurse to assist because she was a supernumerary providing an extra pair of hands.

But another nurse who was on shift at the time said someone working in a supernumerary position “could still act in the best interests of a patient when that patient was having a seizure”.

The panel concluded that on 26 April 2022 she "drew up the incorrect dosage of insulin to be administered to a patient".

She did not "have the necessary knowledge of English to practise safely and effectively" and her fitness to practise was impaired by reason of her "lack of knowledge of English", the committee concluded.

The suspension will be reviewed when it ends and the panel are due to look for evidence Ms Puthanpurackal-Thomas has improved her knowledge of English.