The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
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thelinguist.uberflip.com APRIL/MAY The Linguist 7 NEWS & EDITORIAL Brooke Townsley on work to push language services in healthcare higher up the agenda W hat do you do if you need medical attention but can't communicate with a doctor? How can an expectant mother communicate her needs, or understand the advice given by midwives in the UK if she doesn't fully understand English? How can nurses, receptionists and doctors engage with their patients if they don't share a language? Medical staff and limited- or non-English speaking patients face challenges like these every day in GP surgeries and hospital wards across the NHS. A range of responses are made to this challenge: sometimes the use of a qualified interpreter, but as often as not, the use of ad hoc language helpers, expensive telephone interpreting services, or children to mediate for their parents. In a time of squeezed budgets and pressure on resources, sometimes there is no response at all. Stories of surgeries avoiding registering non-English speakers are, sadly, not unusual. Interpreting in healthcare does not enjoy the support of European legislation mandating its use, so there is little incentive for the NHS to move towards a proper provision of language services. The 'Language Services in Healthcare' one-day seminar, at Middlesex University on 12 November, was designed to push the subject higher up the agenda. A better prognosis In planning the seminar, I was conscious of the limitations of a profession or interest group talking to itself, re-visiting well-traversed territory and remaining in a closed circle of known information and familiar complaints. I wanted to create a forum that would encourage new lines of inquiry and different viewpoints to be heard. Multi-disciplinarity was therefore a key feature from the outset. Building on the work of WoLSH (the Working Group on Language Services in Healthcare), the seminar attracted more than 40 delegates from academia, medical practice, interpreting and translation, interpreting service providers and minority rights groups. The speakers reflected the need for new perspectives. After an opening address from Middlesex's Dean of Health and Education, Jan Williams, there was a keynote address from Prof Mark Johnson on the impact of language difference on medical outcomes. Lindsay Ahmet, Senior Lecturer in Midwifery at Middlesex, then spoke on the role of interpreting and mediated communication in midwifery. Her data on the implications of faulty language mediation for midwives and pregnant women provided a compelling argument for proper arrangements for language services in healthcare. Dr Erica Howard spoke on the Fundamental Rights Agency report, 'Inequalities and Multiple Discrimination in Access to and Quality of Healthcare', and the implication of the Equalities Act for the field of healthcare interpreting. Hans Verrept presented on language mediation in the Belgian healthcare system; Dr Jan Cambridge on interpreting in healthcare settings; CIOL Chair Keith Moffit and Executive Director Ann Carlisle on the CIOL and IoLET perspective; and Pascal Riloff on the European Network for Public Service Interpreting and Translation (ENPSIT). The one-day seminar was also intended to be a launch pad for further development of the language services in healthcare agenda. Capitalising on the interest and engagement it created, the next step was to establish a new WoLSH research and information exchange group. The remit of the group, which had its first meeting on 19 March, is to provide a space in which different perspectives on the phenomenon of language diversity in healthcare can be explored, differing voices from the sector heard, and initiatives to improve provision in healthcare established. A steering group for a developing project on specialist CPD is also situated at Middlesex University. This group, comprising representatives from the CIOL, IoLET and NRPSI, visiting academics and consultants, is leading this line of development, and its work feeds into the WoLSH group. I have high hopes for further initiatives from the combination of these two work streams. Equal access to public healthcare is a fundamental right and this means addressing the challenges of linguistic diversity in the NHS. The one-day seminar and the WoLSH group are initiatives to begin the process of confronting these challenges. I look forward to reporting on progress in future issues of The Linguist. Brooke Townsley FCIL is Senior Lecturer and Course Leader in Public Service Interpreting and Translation at Middlesex University, and a former CIOL Vice-Chair. TL AD HOC RESPONSE Children are often asked to interpret for their parents when using NHS services © SHUTTERSTOCK