An NHS surgeon claims he had to stop an operation because the foreign nurses working with him could not follow his instructions.

David Nunn, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals in London, told the Daily Telegraph he feared the patient's life was at risk.

Mr Nunn said he had stopped because the foreign nurses working with him did not understand his request for surgical instruments.

Disciplinary threat

"It was met with a selection of bemused reactions," he told the paper.

"They were produced only when the scrub nurse de-scrubbed and went to find them herself."

Now the 48-year-old surgeon says his supervisors have threatened him with disciplinary action for racism.

If medical staff cannot communicate effectively then patients' care may be put at risk

David Nunn

He told the newspaper that political correctness was stopping problems with foreign staff "from being aired".

"The world has been scoured for nurses to shore up the health service and to achieve arbitrary targets set by the government.

"All are without doubt well-trained and dedicated professionals, but if medical staff cannot communicate effectively then patients' care may be put at risk," he told the paper.

The hospitals said the incident was being investigated.

Language skills

A spokesman told the Telegraph that nurses from abroad went through an "adaptation programme" which involved a test of their written and verbal communication skills.

The Department of Health said all hospitals offer induction courses for foreign nurses but these concentrate more on clinical skills than their ability to speak English.

A spokeswoman said that the department advises hospitals to "consider carefully" staff's language skills in order that they are able to do the job "safely and effectively".

The Royal College of Nursing says that half of the 15,000 nurses registering in the past year were from abroad.