Nowadays there is a growing number of immigrants living in most countries around the world. So our societies are becoming more multicultural and multilingual. This sector of the population, along with tourists, are all users of many public services such as hospitals and police stations.

As a result, new needs have arisen for the integration of these people. They need access to utilities and other rights that they hold as citizens of the country. I won’t try to tackle the issue of integration here. It would be too complex to analyse in such a short space. I’d just like to discuss the many barriers that these people find on their arrival in a new country. Huge cultural and social barriers of course, but also language barriers, arising from an inability to speak the language of the host country.

In the justice and security branches of the public sector, the state of affairs in most countries is better than for other sectors. Normally, there are interpreters available at courts and police stations. However, the case of the health service is very different, and perhaps this sector is even more important. Effective communication between healthcare providers and patients is vital. A lack of good communication in hospitals and health centres can be dangerous, compromising patient care and leading to wrong diagnoses and treatments.

One of the most advanced countries in this field is Australia. The Australian health system has a language service called the Health Care Interpreter Service. This is provided free to the public health sector and funded by the federal government. In the U.S., hospitals and medical centres that receive federal funding are required by law to provide all health care patients services in their own language. In EU countries, the figure of the interpreter in health services is becoming increasingly present. However, there are still many centres that do not have an interpretation service available for patients.

Personally, I think the provision of interpreters should not be optional for public services. I believe all institutions should be required by law to provide a translation/interpretation service for foreign patients. What do you think?