As an interpreter I seem to be seeing this phrase more and more in my work. Frustrated Deaf clients often tell me a previous appointment failed to go ahead because the ‘interpreter never turned up. ‘
Of course, Interpreters are not perfect and we might make mistakes with bookings, but most of us are self employed, working as freelance interpreters for our income. If we ‘don’t turn up’ we don’t get paid, simple as that. So it is very unusual for an interpreter to simply not attend a booking.
The more likely reason that the Deaf person failed to see an interpreter is because they weren’t booked in the first place. Many NHS settings still don’t know who to contact to book an interpreter, they do not know who their contracted provider is.
Some agencies will take the requests for an interpreter, and the NHS (or whatever service is involved) will presume “requesting” an interpreter is the same as”booking” one. Receptionists will say ‘we asked for an interpreter’ but if the agency doesn’t confirm then there is no booking.
I always advise Deaf clients to clarify, to ask more questions for example;
– how did you book an interpreter?
– who did you contact?
Specifically they should ask for the name of the interpreter who ‘never turned up’ because if one of us is just not bothering to attend a booking then that is cause for complaint and needs to be addressed.
So far in my experience, there has not been one single occasion when they’ve been able to give the name of the interpreter who was supposedly booked but didn’t arrive.
If it was a health appointment then reception should be able to say the name of the agency they contacted and the agency will know the name of the interpreter IF anyone was booked.
It is very easy to use interpreters to shift the blame, but please remember we are working professionals, this is how we earn our income. We simply cannot afford to ‘not turn up’ and it’s really upsetting to be blamed so unfairly.
I’ve been interpreting for 15 years and have never missed a booking, I would be mortified to let a Deaf client down and I know with the Deaf grapevine I would very quickly have a bad reputation.
Please don’t accept the reason’ the interpreter never turned up’ a it is an easy and lazy excuse, where is the proof an interpreter was booked in the first place?
This blog has been written anonymously as part of the Insight series where readers are invited to share their story or news about their interesting job with The Limping Chicken. If you have a story to share please email rebecca@rawithey.com
Image courtesy of i-stock photos.
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Lyn G
August 5, 2024
Thanks for highlighting this. I am always saying this to my Deaf friends and colleagues or the professionals at appointments when “they finally get an interpreter”.
The main reason I believe this happens is a lack of transparency and understanding of how booking an interpreter through an agency actually works. Let’s say a hospital is booking an interpreter. They contact the agency with whom they have the contract and give the date/ time/ etc etc and said agency says “yep, that’s all booked”. Unsurprisingly, said receptionist or booking person from the call centre thinks great, my job is done. However, as you mentioned, unless someone calls up prior to the booking and asks for the name of the interpreter they don’t really *know* if an interpreter has been booked but they *think* one has. Legitimately so.
Receptionists and other professionals aren’t to know that the agency is either sending it out and trying to source the best person for the job (would be nice if that actually happens) or is simply trying to find the cheapest person for the job and subsequently ends up finding nobody. At no point, that I’m aware of, does the agency contact the receptionist/ booking person to say they haven’t or can’t find an interpreter.
Agencies should be more open and honest in how they source interpreters and at the very least, let the person who tried to book an interpreter know if they haven’t been able to do so. If I support someone to book an appointment or interpreter for an appointment I always, always say to the receptionist “Please call up a day or two before the appointment and ask for the name of the interpreter. If they can’t give you a name then they haven’t got someone.” It’s frustrating that this needs to be done and personally, I feel it’s the job of the agency to keep the GP’s, doctors, Council etc updated and not the other way round.
Claire Dodds
August 6, 2024
Thank you for highlighting this issue. It’s something I often find myself explaining. It’s really important that we can all really understand this problem in order to be able to address it properly. Interpreters hardly ever just don’t turn up for jobs they have been booked for. Look for other explanations – the interpreter was not actually booked in the first place, simply requested, but the request went unfilled. To my mind that’s the most likely explanation.
Most large multilingual contracts will allow for a percentage of fulfilment failure; so an agency will be able to retain their contract even when they are only fulfilling 90% of booking requests, for example, as this is specified as acceptable within the contract. BUT, no-one is looking closely at these unfulfilled bookings and seeing which language communities are most affected. My suspicion is that BSL bookings form a large part of multi-lingual agencies fulfilment failure rates. Agencies may be quite willing to let that continue, as BSL bookings are often low profit or loss-leaders within the contract anyway. A large multilingual agency makes little or no profit from BSL bookings or may even lose money on them, as BSL interpreters are paid at a higher rate than most spoken language bookings can charge clients within the terms of their contract.