SIS Community Interpreters are required to exercise professional judgement and discretion and intervene sensitively. Such interventions may be crucial to positive outcomes, and requires skilful practice on their part. Below is one such story where a SIS interpreters’ inventions and use of professional judgement was particularly important and critical for patient and the practitioner alike.…
SIS regularly provides interpreting for mothers attending maternity appointments. The absence of an interpreter within this pathway risk the mother not understanding the care being offered, increases risk of uninformed, unconsented care as women go through pregnancy and birth, and can have far reaching consequences where such provision is not offered consistently. We heard from…
SIS Website Stories are filled with accounts of SIS linguists’ interpreting practice that show their dedication and commitment to supporting patients’ communication needs. There is of course another part of this picture – namely the dedicated NHS staff who book and work with our interpreters, and who are as equally committed to ensuring patients’ rights…
It is heart-warming when we hear good news stories, especially those that speak to the indomitable spirit and resilience of asylum seeking families. One such family supported by our very own Chair, Aidan (who volunteers for Care4Calais) is that of Solafa. This is her story: Her family have been living in London since they arrived…
We are happy to announce SIS was successful in our tender bid (NHS Sussex – Mini Comp – Joint Commissioned Interpreting Contract) for Face To Face Interpreting, Telephone Interpreting and Video Interpreting. The new Contract will start on 1st November 2022 and operate for at least 3 years. The Contract demonstrates NHS Sussex Integrated Care…
Interpreting across the maternity care pathway is one of our biggest areas of work. Over the last 3 years we have provided interpreters in over 50+ languages. SIS Linguists are also routinely accessed by midwives, who ring our emergency line, seeking interpreting support during labour and post-natal discharge. Recently, we were happy to partner up…
Meeting a telephone interpreting need is not always straight forward. NHS staff do not always have the facility or equipment necessary to conference call patients; There may be data protection and privacy considerations to work around, and complicated further where the Service User is suffering from a mental health crisis. In such instances clinicians may…
Some refugees and asylum seekers may have less than conversational English. This can be distressing and disempowering. Supporting them to get their most pressing practical needs met can be critical to improving their mental and psychological wellbeing. This can also create the necessary space to help them focus on learning a new language. We were…
The NHS in Sussex is calling on residents to remember simple steps to reduce the spread of COVID-19 as demand for services rises in the region. The demand for all NHS services across Sussex has risen significantly due to the higher infection rates of COVID-19 in the community in recent weeks. Staff across the NHS…
In Sussex the COVID-19 vaccination programme went live on 8 December 2020 at the Royal Sussex County Hospital – the first hospital hub for our region. The hospital teams have been vaccinating people over the age of 80 years old who are coming to the hospital as an inpatient or outpatient, hospital staff and…
