3 days ago
Oxfordshire hospitals' most requested language interpreter revealed
The most requested language interpretation service at Oxfordshire's hospitals is not French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese nor Arabic.
Instead, a recent freedom of information request to the Oxfordshire NHS Foundation Trust has revealed that it is Portuguese.
The trust provides physical, mental health and social care for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and Somerset.
Its responsibilities include Abingdon, Bicester, Wallingford, Wantage and Witney community hospitals, as well as numerous other services such as disability and dental care.
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That Portuguese is the most sought-after translation service tallies with data from the latest Census (2021) which reported that it was second – after English – as the most spoken primary language by residents of Oxford, narrowly beating Spanish and Polish.
As well as revealing the most requested language interpretation service for the trust, the freedom of information request showed how much is being spent on interpretation as a whole.
Witney Community Hospital falls under the Oxfordshire NHS Foundation Trust
For the latest year-long period (2024-25) this was £185,659, significantly down from the same time a year before (2023-24) when it was £211,003.
It is also reduced from the timeframe before that (2022-23) when £204,475 was spent on translation across the trust.
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This comes after the Daily Mail revealed that the NHS has spent almost £80 million on language and interpretation services since 2020 for patients – not just for non-English speakers but also the hard of hearing and blind people.
Responding to the paper, an NHS spokesperson said: 'Translation and interpretation services are a legal requirement and essential to deliver effective and safe patient care.
'It is right the NHS offers these services for those who need them, including translations, sign language and documents.'
Even so, the money spent on translation services nationally has led to criticism from some MPs and groups such as the Taxpayers' Alliance.
