12 The Linguist Vol/63 No/4
ciol.org.uk/thelinguist
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Renata Towlson outlines a pioneering hybrid model of
hospital interpreting that could improve patient outcomes
N
ottingham University Hospitals NHS
Trust is one of the largest acute
teaching trusts in the UK. It is located
across three sites, has over 18,000 staff and
cares for 4-5 million patients each year. Its
interpreting and translation services came
under scrutiny in 2014 following a patient
experience review. There had been
complaints, and control over the processes
and quality of services was restricted to
quarterly review meetings with the outsourced
provider. This, and spiralling costs, made for
an inefficient service that needed attention
for the benefit of patients, with specific
consideration for languages.
During my time as a senior procurement
officer, my portfolio of corporate contracts
included interpreting and translation services,
which, following a European tender process,
had been awarded to a national framework
provider. The annual cost in 2013/2014 was
nearly £600,000. However, effectiveness and
quality of service did not reflect the expense,
resulting in a high level of dissatisfaction from
both clinicians and patients.
By gathering data, informal feedback,
officially logged complaints and insight from
my interpreting practice, it became clear to
me that national or global agencies might not
have the capabilities to respond to acute local
needs. Service review meetings confirmed a
gap between local requirements and what
was possible for the outsourced company.
While a global provider can succeed by
utilising telephone, video and written
translation, a localised function – especially
where a rapid, face-to-face linguistic
response is required – is both qualitatively
and economically far more effective. I
submitted a business case for an innovative
interpreting and translation model that would
provide quality improvements to patients
and lower the cost to the trust.
This business case outlined the rationale
for a fusion (non-homogenous) model of
interpreting and translation services. And so,
in 2015, a new concept was born that was
managed in partnership with local partners,
volunteers and a global organisation.
However, engagement with community
volunteers and bilingual members of staff,
who had been volunteering to interpret for
patients, required a governance process.
Following a successful voluntary services
recruitment process, I offered in-house basic
interpreting training to Level 3 standards. I
confirmed that I could not assess their
language abilities, that building a medical
glossary and vocabulary would be their own
responsibility, and that I would not expect
anyone to interpret without feeling confident
to do so. They had unlimited access to my
advice, training and supervision, and
direction to professional routes.
The pilot project
I ran a 12-month pilot project which resulted
in a mandate to set up an in-house bank of
interpreters, initially for the most requested
language at that time: Polish. An intranet
booking system made it easy for all staff to
source face-to-face interpreters. A process of
development and consulting with service users
began. Qualitative feedback and financial
data were encouraging, and we extended
the pilot to further European languages.
A healthy solution?
©
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