If you or your relative has communication needs, please contact us as soon as possible on the telephone on your appointment letter or card received and ask them to arrange an appropriate interpreter.

Our Interpreting Service includes:

• 24 hour access to over 200 community languages via the telephone.
• Patient choice e.g. gender of interpreter, wider range of languages.
• Local communities providing some services e.g working with local Deaf Community to provide an out of hours service for British Sign Language.
• Community language interpreters who have achieved a nationally accredited qualification.

We do not use family members, friends or staff members for interpreting.

Face-to-face interpreting is not always offered as telephone interpreting often offers more choice.

Rest assured that if information is of a particularly sensitive nature, involves children, a lengthy consultation is needed or there is another reason why telephone interpreting cannot be used then face-to–face will be provided.