A speech and language therapist who claimed English was her native tongue was sacked after admitting she couldn't understand her colleagues.

Sai Keerthana Sriperambuduru joined the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in October 2023.

On her application form, she claimed that English was her first language and was therefore not required to prove her proficiency in speaking it.

However, within weeks of beginning her role, colleagues quickly discovered that she appeared unable to communicate with patients or even colleagues.

She was called into a review meeting on November 7 and admitted that Telugu was in fact her native language and not English as she had previously claimed.

One month later, she said she was taking regular English lessons outside of work, but said she was struggling with transcribing conversations due to children or parents speaking quickly.

She was sacked eight months after she was initially hired.

Ms Sriperambuduru told a Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS) hearing that her education was taught in English and argued that it could therefore be considered her first language.

However, the panel disagreed and said she intended to deceive the Trust in order to gain employment and she was removed from the register. 

In the application form for the role, candidates are asked about their English proficiency.

It states: 'Is English your first language? You should only indicate that English is your first language if it is the main or only language you use on a day-to-day basis. 

'Having studied English or undertaken education or training at an institution where the medium of instruction is English does not necessarily mean that English is your first language.'

However, Ms Sriperambuduru claimed that she 'genuinely believed that English could reasonably be considered my first language in the context of my education and professional practice.'

She told the panel in a written submission: 'I did not understand that the HCPC definition required English to be the primary language used in all day-to-day life circumstances as understood in the UK regulatory context.'

Her line manager said that during her application, Ms Sriperambuduru requested to use a chat-box facility which allowed interviewers to type questions to her instead of face-to-face.

She described this as 'very unusual' as Ms Sriperambuduru lived in the UK at the time.

The panel found this showed an attempt to conceal her lack of proficiency and indicated her dishonesty. 

Her line manager said that issues with her English proficiency and its effect on her ability to work were noted in her first review meeting just two weeks later.

She noticed deficiencies in her English both in her conversation and written work.

She said this was important as the role requires clear communication and the ability to recognise patients' difficulties with speech, including punctuation, sentence structure and grammar.

Ms Sriperambuduru told her line manager that English was not her first language.

In her second probation meeting, Ms Sriperambuduru said she had been struggling with transcribing due to children or parents speaking quickly.

Her line manager said that the transcriptions are used to note down sounds made by a patient in order to record where any difficulties arise.

A spokesperson for York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: 'Ms Sai Keerthana Sriperambuduru was employed by York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust between October 2023 and June 2024. 

'Her employment was terminated in June 2024.

'The Trust referred the matter to the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), and Ms Sriperambuduru has not worked for the Trust since.'