Healthwatch report helps improve translation services
Research carried out by speaking to more than 40 refugees across the county, backed up by “mystery shopper” exercises carried out by Healthwatch North Yorkshire volunteers, showed that health professionals often relied on Google Translate – which NHS guidelines state should be avoided due to its lack of accuracy.Our report Policy Vs Reality: Interpreting In Health And Social Care Services, released in January, outlined how some refugees seeking medical help were being denied access to interpreters or being discouraged from using them at GP surgeries, dentists, pharmacies and hospitals.
With many refugees lacking the knowledge or confidence to complain when their experience of services falls short, Healthwatch North Yorkshire called for healthcare providers and commissioners to act on a strategic level to ensure services follow NHS guidelines, staff are properly trained and the use of Google Translate is eradicated, among a list of recommendations, which can be seen in full in our report.
York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which runs hospitals including York, Scarborough, Malton and Bridlington, has issued an action plan responding to the findings of our report. The trust, which provides a comprehensive range of acute hospital and specialist healthcare services for approximately 800,000 people living in and around York, North Yorkshire, North East Yorkshire and Ryedale, has identified several areas where it needs to take action in response to our recommendations. Some areas were outside the trust’s remit, or the trust found it was already meeting the recommended standards.
Improvements have already been made – last month (May 2020), the trust introduced video remote interpreting for spoken language and British Sign Language for video-led outpatient clinics. It has also pledged to remove the use of Google Translate from its website, which is being improved to ensure it can be accurately translated into more than 100 languages, including all patient information systems. Work will continue to translate the trust’s most commonly used leaflets into the most commonly requested languages
Staff will be given more training on how to support patients to access interpretation services, on a regular basis to ensure new members of staff are up to speed. Information on how to use interpreter services is already available to staff, and the services have been promoted at both York and Scarborough hospitals.
Work will continue to improve the trust’s computer systems to help staff identify patients who will need interpretation support.
The policies will apply to all sites managed by the trust, while support for patients who access community nursing teams is also being looked at.
Initial responses to our recommendations from some other NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups can be seen in our report.
As the independent champion for people using health and social care services, Healthwatch North Yorkshire listens to what people like about services and what could be improved. We share their views with those with the power to make change happen. We also share them with Healthwatch England, the national body, to help improve the quality of services across the country. You can give us your feedback on services in the county by emailing us on admin@hwny.co.uk or calling us on 07882 421394, our contact number while our staff work remotely during the coronavirus pandemic.
