A Romanian nurse hired after being interviewed via Skype put patients' health at risk because his English was so bad, a tribunal has heard.

Jean Ruxanda did not know the difference between various dressings or drug doses and was forced to try and lip read colleagues in the operating theatre in a bid to understand what was being said.

Consultants and other colleagues at Yeovil District Hospital raised concerns when they discovered Ruxanda could not understand a word they said.

A nurse, identified as Ms 2, told the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) that she met Ruxanda to discuss the problem a month after he began working there, in December 2015.

She suggested he listen to the radio or watched television frequently to help improve his English and said he assured her that he had arranged to have English lessons.

Ruxanda, a band five nurse, was employed as a scrub theatre practitioner after an interview conducted over Skype following completion of an induction course - normal practice for the hiring of nurses from abroad.

He worked at the hospital until January 2016, when his employment was terminated at the end of his probationary period in January 2016 and he was referred to the NMC.