Nothing's lost in translation as NHS' interpreter bill soars

Published on Tuesday 21 April 2009 10:21

THE bill for translators in Lothian hospitals and clinics has soared by £400,000 in the space of five years, it emerged today.

Figures show that more than half-a-million pounds was spent last year by NHS Lothian to help deal with foreign-speaking patients and to change documents in languages for various communities.

Community groups representing different cultures welcomed the increase in spending, saying it was now easier than ever for those with little English to receive the correct healthcare messages.

The rise has been put down to a growing international community in the city as well as health chiefs' growing commitment to ensure everyone can access top healthcare regardless of their grasp of English.

Dr Dermot Gorman, NHS Lothian's public health consultant, said: "Doctors have to be sure that the patient understands what is being said and discussed in order to provide the necessary medical care safely. NHS Lothian's population has increased in recent years, partly due to an influx of people from central and Eastern Europe with consequent increase in interpretation costs."

The statistics also reveal which languages are the most popular, and over the past three years how many hours have been set aside for each one.

Between 2004 and 2008 Chinese took up 10,519 hours, with Polish only a few hours behind that. Urdu, Punjabi, Turkish, Spanish and Arabic also featured highly in the list, and all took up more than 1000 hours each.

More obscure languages include Telugu – a tongue spoken in parts of India; Tagalog – spoken by 22 million people in the Philippines; and a language spoken by some Zimbabweans called Shona.

In all 44 languages have had to be interpreted at some stage in the last five years.

Kathy Miller, headteacher of the Edinburgh Chinese School – who herself occasionally interprets for the city council – said many of the Chinese community were impressed at how the service had expanded.

She said: "I can even see for myself that there have been big improvements in this. Maybe in the past there was someone in during the 9-5 hours but now there are more people available on call.

"Before, especially with the older members of the Chinese community, it would be very difficult for them to go to a hospital because they would have to rely on family members to translate, and if they were very close they would maybe not quite give the right message from the doctor (if it was bad news).

"But now everybody says it is far better, not just in the NHS but across the board."