NHS spends £130k a day on translations for non-English speaking patients.

90% of the cases I accompanied to hospital were to A & E (or Urgences as it's called here). There wouldn't necessarily be time to access an interpreter in an unusual language in this region. So yes, muddling along was what had to happen, although I am fluent.

Ilovecheese

So you would like ill and frightened people to be treated a little bit worse. I am actually glad our country is better than that.

This exactly, thank you ilovecheese

Medical consultations can be full of technical language that needs careful translation, or personal information that a patient may not want a ‘family member or friend’ to share.

The Trust I just retired from had a list of Staff they could call on to act as Interpreter as first point of call. Someone in Admin arranges a mutual time. If they can't they have to pay, but always ask if the patient can bring someone to do it.

escaped

My worry with translation online sites for medical issues is that they don't pick up on nuances. They're a bit like a glorified dictionary and you can end up with incorrect usage of words and misunderstanding.
Also I don't think they cover every rare language there is.

There are approximately 7,100 different languages in the world.

lixy

Ilovecheese

So you would like ill and frightened people to be treated a little bit worse. I am actually glad our country is better than that.

This exactly, thank you ilovecheese

Medical consultations can be full of technical language that needs careful translation, or personal information that a patient may not want a ‘family member or friend’ to share.

Many translators will not have extensive knowledge of technical medical language.

If a doctor cannot explain to a patient in simple terms then perhaps he or she needs to have some retraining, as many patients with English as a first language may not understand technical medical terms either.

How did I know this was your thread FGT !!!

Because her name was on the OP perhaps?

It doesn't take Miss Marple.

When we lived in France we knew a number of Brits who never learnt anything beyond the most basic French and some who had no interest in learning the language beyond ordering a beer. One family had small children who readily learnt French at the local school and were used to phoning the bank on behalf of their parents.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

I would be willing to bet the court system spends even more on translators.

One family had small children who readily learnt French at the local school and were used to phoning the bank on behalf of their parents.
Yes, it's common for adults who don't speak the language to rely on their children to interpret. However, in a medical setting this is not allowed. It might be very traumatising.

BlueBelle

How did I know this was your thread FGT !!!

It doesn't matter though.
There's some interesting true life experiences being written about here.

Visgir1

The Trust I just retired from had a list of Staff they could call on to act as Interpreter as first point of call. Someone in Admin arranges a mutual time. If they can't they have to pay, but always ask if the patient can bring someone to do it.

What trust is this? ....all interpreters are free at the point of delivery ( free as in 'no cost' to the parient) ....I'm not sure your trust was acting legally by charging patients...in fact I'm sure they are not

No Allira (that’s clever of you) but I knew without looking They are very predictable!

Louisa it doesn’t read that the patient had to pay Visgirl means the hospital has to pay !!!

BlueBelle

Louisa it doesn’t read that the patient had to pay Visgirl means the hospital has to pay !!!

Ah ok👌 ...I read it wrong then !

I guess it makes more sense for the hospital to organise an interpreter. So in the case of an incorrect translation, which could have bad consequences, would they then be held responsible?

My daughter has a friend who’s an audiologist in London. Apparently most of the patients require a translator. I think it’s a disgraceful waste of resources and the people who come and live here should have the grace to learn the language.

When our eldest son had a stroke while living in Japan there were no translators offered. His wife did her best but she is not remotely medical.

Someone help me with the Maths.

IF it is £130,000 per day, and the NHS sources interpreters at a favourable hourly rate, that's about 16,000 patients a day requiring interpreters if you allocate them a 15 minute appointment. (Or even 8 - 9,000 if you give them a generous 30 minutes). Where are all these needy patients coming from daily? If it's just to help them navigating the system and wheeling them round departments, then just give them a printed card with all the details on and tell them to use their phones to research.

Health chiefs have spent almost £80 million on language and translation services since 2020 for patients who don't speak English.
Taxpayers' Alliance.

escaped

Someone help me with the Maths.

IF it is £130,000 per day, and the NHS sources interpreters at a favourable hourly rate, that's about 16,000 patients a day requiring interpreters if you allocate them a 15 minute appointment. (Or even 8 - 9,000 if you give them a generous 30 minutes). Where are all these needy patients coming from daily? If it's just to help them navigating the system and wheeling them round departments, then just give them a printed card with all the details on and tell them to use their phones to research.

16,000 patients a day needing interpreting services, out of 1.7 million NHS contacts a day is a very small proportion of the total though.

True, but not insignificant Casdon when budgetting needs to be reduced.
I assume "NHS contacts" means everything across the board, where no one really needs an interpreter for blood tests, BP checks, podiatry, stitching up a finger - just to name a few. I'm guessing the money mentipned is spent on solely consultant/GP appointments, otherwise it's totally unnecessary.

I think that should be budgeting with one t by the way!

1.7 million encompasses all contacts with professionals as I understand it, of which 1.4 million are with GPs.