Lost for words: translation services in Westminster
Download (PDF 860.15 KB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Kensington and Chelsea and Healthwatch Westminster wanted to understand people’s experiences of translation services. They surveyed people and undertook focus groups. Altogether they reached 77 people.
There was generally mixed feedback among the residents who responded to the survey and participated in the focus group discussions about the interpretation services offered in primary care settings. Positive feedback included appreciation that the service was offered, interpreters’ professionalism, and quality of the interpretation services. Negative views were focused on challenges accessing the service, the lack of diversity in languages and dialects offered, and quality issues such as miscommunication and misinterpretation.
The report contains three recommendations about access to and awareness of interpretation services; improving the quality of interpretation services and providing additional support to non-English speakers.