The SIS Telephone Befriending project received a referral in November 2021 from the person’s GP via Together Co. She was matched with a SIS Telephone Befriending Volunteer that same month. The Scheme Member is in her early 70s. She lives with her husband and has family living nearby. An interview with the Scheme Member was…
Our funded advocacy service helps people with issues relating to access to healthcare and access to Adult Social Care. Here is a recent story from the service. Service User L had asked for advocacy support with access to secondary healthcare for three different issues. She felt that the delay in accessing the appropriate services…
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…
An interpreter was booked by a Service Provider for a medical appointment. When the SIS interpreter arrived and spoke to the Service User, she told her that she had been in the UK for 3 years already and that this was her first medical appointment in that time. She hadn’t known that she was entitled…
At the SIS AGM in December 2022, a SIS Service User gave a moving account of their journey with SIS, the different services they had used and the difference it has made to their life. “I came to England to give myself sometime after my divorce. I didn’t speak English, but I do like…
We have been slowly increasing the number of interpreting sessions we provide to Worthing Hospital. We have provided interpreters in 12 languages, compared to 2 languages in the same period last year. At the moment most appointments are referred directly to us by patients. Our booking systems are straightforward, and we encourage our colleagues in…
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: https://care4calais.org/news/solafas-story/ Her family have been living in London since they…
Here is a recent story from our Bilingual Advocacy service. Service User L was referred to SIS by an interpreter. L had been asking her GP for nearly a year to refer her to a specialist service for investigation of a sensitive personal issue. She had no confidence in the GP at all, she complained…
We have been working with a woman over several months. She has been supported by domestic violence charities. It is important to provide the same interpreter. Adopting this team work approach in sensitive cases makes a real difference. It is one of the ways SIS operates differently from other organisations. The Service User started by…
SIS Bilingual Telephone Befriending Service, received this referral in December 2021 from TDC via Together Co. The Arabic speaking Scheme Member was matched with a volunteer in January 2022. The scheme member is in her early 70s, she lives in a retirement complex. An interview with the Scheme Member was conducted through a SIS Community…
