Hospitals are to hire Eastern European nurses because so many patients cannot speak English, making it hard for doctors to understand their health concerns.

For the first time, NHS trusts in immigration hotspots want to recruit staff from Poland to cope with the language barriers they face every day on their wards.

It is hoped the move will improve care for foreign-born patients, cut the Health Service’s £23 million annual bill for translation services, and reduce the lengthy consultation times clinicians must have with non-English speakers.

NHS managers want to recruit Polish staff, pictured, to cut down on the service's translation service bill

However, critics say it highlights the strain placed on health care by Britain’s open borders policy over the past decade. New figures from the Office for National Statistics are expected to confirm this week that migration to the UK last year was far higher than the Government target of the ‘tens of thousands’.

Official figures from the Nursing and Midwifery Council show there are already 2,473 nurses from Poland working in Britain, with 210 registering in the past year alone.

But for the first time it can be revealed that hospitals are also recruiting foreign staff because they will be better able to communicate with patients.

The first trust to speak openly of the plan is in Boston, Lincolnshire, which has a larger proportion of Eastern European residents than anywhere else in Britain. Census figures show one in ten of the town’s 64,000 population is from new members of the EU such as Poland or Latvia, and the high birth rate among recent arrivals puts strain on maternity services as well as interpreters.

Garry Marsh, deputy chief nurse of United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust, said: ‘We have a big Eastern European community and the health needs of that population will grow as they age within the UK.’

He added: ‘By looking at recruiting from Eastern European counties, we would introduce nurses that culturally are very responsive to those patients’ needs – the most obvious and immediate barrier we face being the language differences.’

The United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust, pictured, has been paying translators £38-an-hour

The trust has 36 nursing places to fill and senior staff are expected to travel to Poland early next year to carry out interviews, having gone on a similar recruiting trip to Greece.

A spokesman declined to answer questions about the current number of Eastern European patients it cares for or how many existing staff members are Polish. Figures showed the trust spent £57,000 on language services in 2011-12, up from £45,000 two years earlier.

As well as translating leaflets into Polish, the hospital has to hire £38-an-hour interpreters so doctors can understand patients’ problems and be sure they understand treatment being offered.

In Norfolk, hospital bosses are also considering hiring foreign nurses. A spokesman for Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Trust said: ‘Recruiting Eastern European nurses is under consideration but there are no plans at this moment to do so.’