What sort of help? What would you class as acceptable in terms of language skills?

Being able to speak clearly so able to be understood would be the main.

50% hearing loss.....
Dont know about different %s of loss so wouldnt like to comment, but aslong as they can here what someone is telling them there shouldnt be a problem. Would hearing aids also make it easier.

Why?

As they are dealing with something very important, peoples health and often lives.

To be honest with you i get fed up with those strong northern dialects. Geordie, for example, i havent a clue what the feck they are saying.
Many a time ive gone up north and genuinely felt like im in another country.
One time i was sitting around a campsite in New Zealand. By coincide, there were 4 different brits with completely different strong regional accents.
Plus myself, my english speaking jap girlfriend and a bunch of Kiwi. We were all shooting the breeze.
I felt quite at home with the kiwis and my Jap girlfriend, as I clearly understood everything they were saying. But felt my own countrymen to be the strange foreigners, due to the array of weird and wonderful sounds coming out of their gobs.

Sorry a lot of questions there!

Yeah, to many.
I admit it would be a task to do something sutible and work it but it is something that needs looking at. When I was doing IT at collage part of that course was an english and maths so they knew I had a decent level of knowledge and thats for IT, a lot less important the peoples health.

I do agree that understanding nurses/doctors can be difficult. But when you consider the multi cultural status of a country like Britain, a language test is a crazy idea, it has to be said.

For all the years I've worked in the NHS I've only come across a handful of people who were perturbed by the language barrier. I've never found it dangerous either, there are always other nurses to ask or written reports to read, so there's always a fail safe as it were.

I think, rather than implement a language test for every person who is deemed not able to speak English sufficiently (which includes many British people ), it's far easier for the nurse/doctor/patient who didn't understand what was said, to ask the speaker to repeat it so they could understand.

I know it'd be the cheaper option!

I have had that, asked when my symptoms started I said thursday, he didnt understand this went on for 5mins until I said, thursday, the day after wednesday. He said oh tersday why couldnt I say it.

Sorry mate, am only going to answer your questions if you answer my last lot!
So he didn't understand you at first, but you got the message across eventually. Why does it bother you so much, it's just a mis understanding after all? And I don't buy the whole "it could've been dangerous" thing in this case!

It did bother me, as to me its something that there should not be a misunderstanding over, a day of the week, if they cant understand a basic word I think they will struggle with more complex ones. Yes it was sorted out, but after five mins of to'ing and 'throwing.

I am not a medical expert so can say which areas it could be dangerous. But couldnt misunderstood words lead to misdiagnosis and delays in treatment? Same goes for writing but thats a whole other argument.

But you could say that for anyone, I work with a Scottish nurse and there are some things that she says and I have to ask her to repeat them as I can't understand what she's saying. Should she attend English language training? No! I just ask her to repeat it if I don't understand it!

Just because this Doctor can't understand you doesn't mean he can't do his job, it could just be your accent? Perhaps you should go to language training so they can understand you better? See where I'm going with this?

Like I said, in a country such as this you could argue we should all have language training because there is always going to be misunderstandings due to the huge variety of dialects. And again as I've already said who would be qualified enough to pass a student? What qualifies as good English for one person, wouldn't for another!

And no, I've never found misunderstood words to lead to delayed or misdiagnosis'. There are always several people on a ward round and then there's the written notes, so no danger of mistakes being made due to language ime.

You may not have but I would hazzard a guess that there will have been cases. Written having seen many doctors and nurses writing I dont think thats a fail safe.