Nurses from Bulgaria put patients in UK in danger because they can't speak proper English, one of Britain's top doctors has warned.

Speaking at the House of Lords, Lord Winston voiced concerns over nurses coming from Eastern Europe, Bulgaria and Romania in particular, who had limited communication skills 'even in their own language'.

'That communication between the patient and the professional is of vital importance,' he said, as cited by the Daily Mail.

'We run the risk of losing it with this issue of nurses who can't speak the English language.'

Lord Winston's views were later supported by Lord Kakkar, who is a surgeon.

He told peers the situation was 'intolerable'.

'It is not right for fellow practitioners to have to work with these individuals,' he said.

'But most of all it is not right for citizens of our country, who at times when they are unwell and becoming patients in our healthcare systems need to be absolutely certain that the practitioners to whom they are exposed are competent, meet the standards required of medical practitioners in our country and therefore can with certainty provide the quality of care that citizens in our country deserve.'

The peers were told that patients were being put at risk by incompetent doctors and nurses who cannot speak English or understand basic medical terms such as 'nil by mouth'.