Unlocking the Budget for Better Language Translation in the Healthcare Sector

The healthcare sector in the UK comprises the biggest employer in Europe –  the NHS – and offers essential, free care and services to all. However, as the UK population continues to grow, and become increasingly diverse, so have the demands on healthcare services and providers. With a growing multi-cultural, multilingual and aging population, there are ever more people depending on a service that’s at breaking point.

One main cause for concern is the lack of funds and investment available to ensure the sector continues to offer the best, person-centric care, whilst making the books balance and without causing employee burnout. Money is often spent unwisely on inefficient, incumbent practices and solutions when new, more effective, time-saving, technological alternatives exist.

A prime example is translation and interpretation. Clear communication is paramount in healthcare so best results can be achieved; there is no room for ambiguity at a time when making the right care decision is critical. The recently announced NHS Improvement Framework to support the provision of improved translation and interpretation services in the NHS is well overdue, although a welcome, positive step in tackling language barriers in healthcare.

Many NHS Trusts are spending far too much money on translation and interpretation for patients that don’t speak English; according to the TaxPayers’ Alliance it’s costing individual NHS Trusts well over £750,000 every year. Recent figures show that almost £80 million has been spent on translation services in the last five years alone.

What’s more, poor communication in healthcare leads to often unnecessary,  increased costs, estimated at over £1 billion annually in the UK, manifesting in delayed procedures, unnecessary tests, duplicated tasks, and missed information handoffs, ultimately impacting patient care and inflating operational costs.

Our own research, carried out earlier this year, shows that language barriers are costing healthcare workers six working days every year. Over a third of healthcare workers expressed concern about safeguarding issues and almost a quarter (23%) have used their personal mobile phone for translation, which raises concerns about data security and compliance.

Safeguarding budgets for where they are crucially needed is essential, which means being agile enough to adopt new solutions. However, understanding the efficacy, but perhaps more importantly the security, of alternatives will be how healthcare can quickly adopt better solutions. Technology has a critical role to play, but safety and privacy barriers can slow down integration. AI-powered solutions are often misunderstood; they’re not replacements for human empathy or expertise, but a powerful tool to support healthcare professionals and streamline patient communication. There’s a trust gap that can only be bridged by better understanding when and where different translation solutions are appropriate.

In recent months in the UK, Pocketalk has been supporting over 25 healthcare institutions, which are experiencing impressive results for patients, staff and budgets, with devices currently used in GP surgeries and NHS hospitals in London, Derby, Nottingham, Birmingham, Sheffield, Salisbury, Plymouth, Lancashire and Devon to name a few regions. The departments benefitting from an improved and more cost-effective translation solution include front desks and reception areas, cardiology, maternity, A&E, outpatients and physiotherapy. We look forward to supporting many more hospitals, clinics and GP surgeries in the months to come.

As well as mainland UK, Pocketalk has been working with over 30 Irish healthcare institutions and clinics in the last year, with hugely positive results. It was the eagerness of the Irish healthcare sector to find a better translation solution that started the positive snow-ball effect for Pocketalk in the UK and Ireland.

Pocketalk is currently supporting several Irish maternity wards, helping staff ensure patients understand their pregnancy and birth journey, and devices are also being used in Irish A&E and radiology departments. Some Irish sexual health clinics are using Pocketalks to help those that don’t have a GP, but need support, and the Irish Ambulance Service is currently using devices in their vehicles to help when patients and victims in emergency situations don’t speak English.

The results to date within the Irish healthcare sector has led to more and more institutions reaching out to Pocketalk to see how they can work together to improve translation and offer better patient care. But perhaps most importantly, time and money is being saved. The HSE in Ireland has spent a significant amount on interpreters and translators in recent years; in 2022, the HSE spent €3.5 million on these services, and in the first six months of the year, spent €1.6 million on translation services alone. It’s clear that new solutions like Pocketalk can help slash this spend.

The above relationships demonstrate that a device like Pocketalk, that has a one-off cost for unlimited use, which is also a time-saving, easy to implement, GDPR compliant and hugely budget friendly solution, can be part of the overall improvement for translation and interpretation at a time when healthcare institutions like the NHS are under so much financial pressure.