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

vegansrock

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

I’m sure the court costs are in the cloud somewhere but in 2022 the MET spent:
£1,668,729, 94 on Translaters.
£4, 568,838,70. On Interpreters.

I broke my arm once and went to a regional hospital. I have to say the doctor, a very pleasant young man, couldn’t fill out the forms because his English was very poor so I had to help him with spelling etc. So it works both ways! Moral of the story - avoid regional hospitals, stick to the city ones.

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.

We use a telephone interpreting service...we dial in ...key in a code for the la.guage we want ...then an interpreter in linked into a 3 way call....we can use them for an hour ....or way longer ....I think 4 hours is the longest I've known one be used ( by me anyway)

FriedGreenTomatoes2

^Given that the NHS is legally obligated to provide care to all users in a language they can understand, what alternative do you suggest?^

Or that we change its remit?
European countries with fantastic healthcare (often with better outcomes than ours) don’t pander to their patients like this.

Just us mugs.

Exactly this.

My work often involved the need for translators. No good can come of asking the individual at the centre about abuse/drugs/alcohol if the interpreter is her husband, or other family member. Same goes for medical appointments, independent translators often needed

While we are on the subject, why don’t we charge these people for NHS treatment?
I know we have a reciprocal arrangement with Europe which is fine but how about the rest of the world? Why’s should they have access to free medical treatment?

We all know that when we go to the States we have to register our card details, which is how it should be, but we are as usual a soft touch.
Madness.

Interesting Louisa, I guess the patient can still retain their autonomy with a three way conversation, even with one person being on the end of the line? How much prompting goes on?
I must admit that using the phone in French is one of my hates, even after all these years of practice!

Iam64

My work often involved the need for translators. No good can come of asking the individual at the centre about abuse/drugs/alcohol if the interpreter is her husband, or other family member. Same goes for medical appointments, independent translators often needed

I only once accompanied anyone who was family to French appointments, dear son in law sawed his hand cutting one of our trees. The conversation wasn't too private, other than "what a twit" under my breath!
I mainly accompanied people on holiday, and children on school trips in loco parentis.

Jennifer eccles - we do charge them. Foreign patients pay for their NHS treatment. (We don't always succeed in getting the bill paid as they are charged at point of discharge)

JenniferEccles

While we are on the subject, why don’t we charge these people for NHS treatment?
I know we have a reciprocal arrangement with Europe which is fine but how about the rest of the world? Why’s should they have access to free medical treatment?

We all know that when we go to the States we have to register our card details, which is how it should be, but we are as usual a soft touch.
Madness.

We have reciprocal arrangements with a few other countries but not with EU countries any longer unless you have an EHIC card.

That is a tiny amount relative to overall NHS spending, assuming you do mean £130,000. That is likely the same as the cost of one senior manager (including on costs).
Doctors are obliged to gain consent for just about everything they do and therefore it is essential that patients understand what they are consenting to.

Erm 🤔 learn some English before thinking of coming to this country to live.

Quercus

That is a tiny amount relative to overall NHS spending, assuming you do mean £130,000. That is likely the same as the cost of one senior manager (including on costs).
Doctors are obliged to gain consent for just about everything they do and therefore it is essential that patients understand what they are consenting to.

I’d like to know what senior manager is earning £130,000 per day
This figure is not for a year it’s for a day

Casdon

What I think is that the NHS has over 1.7 million patient contacts every day, of which according to your source £130k is spent on translation. That is very little as a proportion of the NHS expenditure isn’t it? Given that the NHS is legally obligated to provide care to all users in a language they can understand, what alternative do you suggest?

Mandatory English classes as a requirement for entry to the UK. It's a very basic courtesy and the least that should be expected.

Not only the NHS. Obviously the money would be a big boost to the NHS budget but also the Police, Local Government use transaltors and various other agencies that we are paying for. However we are a nation who openly accept people from other countries into our country to stay here and make a life for themselves so I say we don't really have a choice.

Just looked this up. The total spending does include services for deaf and blind individuals, with a significant portion of the budget going to BSL - about 13% (2019/2020 figures) is specifically allocated to BSL.
Even the TaxPayers' Alliance state this - so I feel GB News who is running this (and others) are a bit clickbaity.

Translation services of course include translation into braile, and Maketon (as assumed earlier!)

Even the TaxPayers' Alliance state this so GB News headlines, the Telegraph, et al are sadly being a bit clickbaity.

I looked ip pay rates for specialist medical translation paid for through the NHS (DPSI Health) as these specialist translators are trained over years to degree level.
They are apparently £20- 40 an hour if bought in via an agency.

Some trusts (don't know how many) have people "in house".

Maybe it’s something to do with English being most countries second language?

Oops just repeated myself.
Apologies

Most NHS trusts now won’t use family or friends as interpreters and use staff . They have a list of which staff speak which language. The reasons are partly because doctors need consent and need to know that the patient and interpreter understand exactly what treatment is needed , plus full medical history.
Another reason is a safeguarding issue regarding victims of abuse and trafficking .
A friend is a midwife and sees a number of young women who’ve been trafficked and only come to the hospital when in labour .

valdavi

Jennifer eccles - we do charge them. Foreign patients pay for their NHS treatment. (We don't always succeed in getting the bill paid as they are charged at point of discharge)

So why not alter that to payment at the start of treatment, like other countries

I read that some hospitals are better than others at billing!
Obviously it's complicated but even getting a quote for treatment from the NHS isn't always easy.

I know as my son tried to get a ballpark figure for an operation here.

We receive communications, usually to do with health and local government. when the list of foreign language translations available covers two and a half sheets of A4 paper.
I think it is thirty-two.

I object most strongly with the Uk paying for translators for patients using the NHS. However the one thing I object to most is me( English born and bred) needing a translator for some of the doctors and nurses in our hospitals, I know its not just me, I have many elderly friends who struggle dreadfully in trying to understand what many foreign born doctors and nurses are saying too them. Being able to speak English clearly should be mandatory for all professionals in the NHS

Hopikins

I object most strongly with the Uk paying for translators for patients using the NHS. However the one thing I object to most is me( English born and bred) needing a translator for some of the doctors and nurses in our hospitals, I know its not just me, I have many elderly friends who struggle dreadfully in trying to understand what many foreign born doctors and nurses are saying too them. Being able to speak English clearly should be mandatory for all professionals in the NHS

Absolutely👍🏻 I have a telephone appointment this week- dreading it as have to keep asking the GP to repeat himself. Nightmare

FriedGreenTomatoes2

I knew it was a lot of money but I was staggered to see the true cost. 😮

I’ve been to see the doctor in Spain . No translation services provided and I didn’t expect them either. Google translate was used and it worked fine.

Why do WE provide this service free of charge? I think it’s scandalous and it’s money that could be funnelled elsewhere.

What do you think?

Not so. My husband was taken ill in Croatia and every effort was made to find an English speaking Dr to take his medical history.
Given the size of the NHS budget that’s not a large amount.
But then there is always something to be outraged about isn’t there!