NHS Trust spending on BSL increases as sites move from family members to professional interpreters

Spending on British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation in 2019/20 increased by more than 21% compared to the year before, as NHS trusts told researchers the jump was due to “moving from using family and friends to professional interpreters”.

Inbox Translation sent Freedom of Information requests to all 244 NHS trusts and health boards in the UK about the procurement of interpreting and translation services, with 71 of these (29.5%) able to provide separate BSL interpretation data.

The information also revealed that while BSL interpreting saw an almost 22% rise in funding from 2018/19 to 2019/20, translation and interpreting for foreign languages only increased by 0.47% and 0.4% respectively.

Elsewhere, Inbox Translation said their data found most ambulance services spent a small or negligible amount on BSL or Braille between 2015/16 and 2019/20, and BSL made up 15.3% of the total spending on interpreting and translation in 19/20 (compared to 13.1% for 18/19).

When asked for reasons behind the increase in NHS Trust and Health Board spending in recent years, organisations said this was due to “more patients”, “moving from using family and friends to using professional interpreters” and the implementation of national plans.

A reported shift away from relying on friends and family members follows a publication on the Accessible Information Standard by SignHealth in February.

A section of the Deaf health charity’s report read: “Many providers in the experiences shared by patients did not seem to understand that requiring family or friends to interpret for the health professional is unacceptable and against guidance for a number of different reasons.

“[This includes] patient confidentiality, minimising safeguarding risk, patient’s privacy and the accuracy and impartiality of the interpreting. Booking an interpreter allows family and friends to attend appointments and support the patient (emotionally and with decision-making) without the added pressure of needing to interpret.

“All interpreters booked should be registered, to ensure they are qualified, monitored and accountable.”

Inbox Translation’s full report is available to view online.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.