Bostin! Foreign nurses at New Cross Hospital given lingo lessons

University bosses have stepped in to teach the new nurses.

Almost 80 people from Greece and Italy are undergoing intensive English language lessons at the university before they start work at the site.

The University of Wolverhampton will verse them in local terms and sayings as part of a the six-week course.

The recruitment - which will eventually see 170 people taken on from overseas - has proved controversial, with some claiming it was a snub to local nurses.

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. 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."

The staff will begin work in the coming weeks, while a number of midwives are being hired from Ireland.

In total, 44 nurses from Greece and Italy have been handed jobs at the Wolverhampton hospital, with a further 34 given provisional offers.

University spokesman James Allen said the university was more than happy to tweak their lessons a touch to add a bit of local flavour.

"It won't be a case of I cor do that and they'll soon be asking ow bist yow - we'll make bostin Yam Yams out of them," he said.

"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 one registered nurse for every 10 patients.

A few phrases the new recruits could learn:

Black Country: "Ah bin guzzlin' Banks's all night, 'ad sum argy bargy un ah caw see strayt bur ah ay blathered."

Translated: "This evening I consumed some of the local ale and unfortunately became embroiled in some fisticuffs. For the life of me I can't see properly but I assure you I am not inebriated."

Black Country: "Sum baerk gimme a towellin' un me conk is bosted."

Translated: "A frightfully rude gentleman hit me in the face and now I fear my nose is broken."

Black Country: "Ah'm famished un this fickle ay 'alf tat, ay yow goranee faggits un pays?"

Translated: "I'm terribly hungry and the food you've very kindly provided isn't quite to my taste. Could I trouble you for some of the local delicacy, faggots and peas?"

Black Country: "Warro nuss this 'ospital be riffy."

Translated: "Hello nurse, I'd like to inform you that this hospital's cleaning standards aren't up to scratch."

Black Country: "Ah shed me pills, ay yow goranee muwer? Gizzit ere."

Translated: "Butterfingers that I am, I appear to have dropped the medication you gave me. I don't suppose you have any more? Please pass them to me."

Black Country: "Me sprog 'ad the collywobbles un now eez bostin. Ta. Any road up, tarra a bit!"

Translated: "My child was feeling very unwell but now he's fully recovered. Thank you very much. Anyway, goodbye for now."

Can you think of any more? Leave them in the comments below.