Healthcare professional and interpreter perspectives on working with and caring for non-English speaking families in a tertiary paediatric healthcare setting

Abstract

ABSTRACTObjective: To understand the perspectives of healthcare professionals and interpreters in relation to working with and caring for non-English speaking families accessing National Health Service paediatric tertiary health care services.Design: Focus group and interview methods were used to elicit the views of healthcare professionals and interpreters at one tertiary paediatric hospital in the United Kingdom. Data were subjected to framework analysis.Results: Participants identified a number of factors affecting communication and their interaction with non-English speaking families in this setting, including time, role uncertainty, and interlinked dimensions of culture and gender. They also described how the nature of this communication could impact on both the delivery of care and the patient and family experience. These findings highlight gaps in services, training, and support for families, staff and interpreters. These need to be recognised and addressed by those in practice to improve care delivery and help tackle health inequalities.Conclusion: Our data show how significant the impact of language barriers can be, and the need to consider not only how communication can be improved, but also how this is situated in the specific context of tertiary paediatric care as well as a wider social context of inequity.