A UNION leader has defended the work being undertaken by foreign nurses at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council last week introduced compulsory testing for overseas nurses after concern was expressed about their poor language skills. But today, Liz Judge of the Royal College of Nurses praised the work of 40 Filipino nurses recruited over the last 12 months in Bolton.

She said: "These are highly experienced nurses who have worked in Dubai and America before coming here. They are absolutely wonderful.

"I have chatted with these nurses and we have understood each other perfectly. The feedback from the patients has been very positive."

Record number of foreign nurses now work in the NHS as understaffed hospitals are unable to fill vacancies with British-trained recruits.

Last year, half of all newly-registered nurses came from overseas -- around 15,000 -- compared with one in 10 a decade ago.

Nurses from EU countries will avoid the new compulsory testing because of European laws.