'Make us a brew’ and ‘I’m starved’ are well known and understood phrases in Britain - but they do not tend to be taught in English lessons. As a result, foreign nurses in the NHS are having such difficulty understanding some patients they are being sent on intensive courses to help them understand local dialects. Greek and Italian staff recruited to work at Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital are to be sent on the courses after struggling to grasp the strong local dialect. Foreign nurses at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital are to be sent on a course where they will learn the local dialect because they are struggling to understand patients with strong Black Country accents . The nurses are fluent in English, but the distinctive dialect in the Black Country has left them baffled. As a result, nearly 80 staff will be sent on a six week course at the University of Wolverhampton to be versed in local sayings like ‘bostin’ which means ‘great’ and ‘I cor’ for ‘I can’t’. David Loughton, chief executive of the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said it made sense to teach the nurses some Black Country language. He said: ‘You can teach English to people overseas but the dialect needs to be taught here. The nurses will learn phrases such as 'make us a brew' while they are on the six week course . ‘It just makes sense to do it. The English they know is probably not the language they’ll get thrown at them in hospital. ‘Even the ones that are proficient in English will have to do some further education in terms of the Black Country dialect.’ University spokesman James Allen said the university was more than happy to tweak their lessons a touch to add a bit of local flavour. He added: ‘It won’t be a case of ‘I cor do that’ they’ll soon be asking ‘ow bist yow?’ ‘We’re proud to be working with the hospital in providing English classes to their new nursing staff. ‘As part of that we’ll be teaching the nurses the nuances of the Black Country dialect, which they will need when dealing with patients.’ Initially nurses were going to be hired from India, China and the Philippines because of a shortage of qualified nurses in the UK, but this soon changed to southern Europe. The nurses will be paid a salary of £21,500, as is consistent with NHS guidelines. The recruitment drive follows criticism for the trust from national health body the Care Quality Commission. They demanded action be taken after a hospital inspection revealed that at night there was just one registered nurse for every 10 patients. Bostin' - this is a commonly used word meaning amazing, very good or excellent. Our kid - a Black Country term for a younger sibling. Babby - a Black Country variation of the word baby - it can also be shortened to bab. Fittle - a local term for food. Yampy - someone who is going mad or is silly/has done something daft. To lamp - to punch someone - 'lamping' is beating someone up. Ta-ra a bit - this means goodbye and see you soon. Blarting - a Black Country word for crying or bawling. Donnies - a local term for hands - particularly used when talking to children. Source: Birmingham Mail .
Nurses at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital will be sent on the course .
The Greek and Italian staff speak English but struggle with the local accent .
The six week long course will be held at the University of Wolverhampton .
'Make us a brew’ and ‘I’m starved’ are well known and understood phrases in Britain - but they do not tend to be taught in English lessons. As a result, foreign nurses in the NHS are having such difficulty understanding some patients they are being sent on intensive courses to help them understand local dialects. Greek and Italian staff recruited to work at Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital are to be sent on the courses after struggling to grasp the strong local dialect. Foreign nurses at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital are to be sent on a course where they will learn the local dialect because they are struggling to understand patients with strong Black Country accents . The nurses are fluent in English, but the distinctive dialect in the Black Country has left them baffled. As a result, nearly 80 staff will be sent on a six week course at the University of Wolverhampton to be versed in local sayings like ‘bostin’ which means ‘great’ and ‘I cor’ for ‘I can’t’. David Loughton, chief executive of the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said it made sense to teach the nurses some Black Country language. He said: ‘You can teach English to people overseas but the dialect needs to be taught here. The nurses will learn phrases such as 'make us a brew' while they are on the six week course . ‘It just makes sense to do it. The English they know is probably not the language they’ll get thrown at them in hospital. ‘Even the ones that are proficient in English will have to do some further education in terms of the Black Country dialect.’ University spokesman James Allen said the university was more than happy to tweak their lessons a touch to add a bit of local flavour. He added: ‘It won’t be a case of ‘I cor do that’ they’ll soon be asking ‘ow bist yow?’ ‘We’re proud to be working with the hospital in providing English classes to their new nursing staff. ‘As part of that we’ll be teaching the nurses the nuances of the Black Country dialect, which they will need when dealing with patients.’ Initially nurses were going to be hired from India, China and the Philippines because of a shortage of qualified nurses in the UK, but this soon changed to southern Europe. The nurses will be paid a salary of £21,500, as is consistent with NHS guidelines. The recruitment drive follows criticism for the trust from national health body the Care Quality Commission. They demanded action be taken after a hospital inspection revealed that at night there was just one registered nurse for every 10 patients. Bostin' - this is a commonly used word meaning amazing, very good or excellent. Our kid - a Black Country term for a younger sibling. Babby - a Black Country variation of the word baby - it can also be shortened to bab. Fittle - a local term for food. Yampy - someone who is going mad or is silly/has done something daft. To lamp - to punch someone - 'lamping' is beating someone up. Ta-ra a bit - this means goodbye and see you soon. Blarting - a Black Country word for crying or bawling. Donnies - a local term for hands - particularly used when talking to children. Source: Birmingham Mail .
understand local dialects. Greek and Italian staff recruited to work at Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital are to be sent on the courses nearly 80 staff will be sent on a six week course at the University of Wolverhampton to be versed