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 to an interpreter at her appointments, and wasn’t fully aware how to access services.
She had resorted to calling family back in her home country to try and contact local doctors for advice and to establish a diagnosis. She had been trying to treat the condition with home remedies, since she had no access to prescriptions. She felt anxious every time she had a new symptom and hoped it would pass without the need for medical treatment. On one occasion, she left her job and flew back to spend a few months treating a bad back.
The interpreter gave the Service User a SIS language card. These cards have translated information about how a Service User can contact SIS to ensure an interpreter is booked for any public service appointments they have, as well as information in English which they can show to a Service Provider to help communicate that they need an interpreter and provide contact details for SIS.
The Service User has now been referred for a surgical procedure and understands how she can self-refer to SIS for an interpreter. Thank you to the proactive interpreter who supported the Service User to better understand her rights and encouraged her to share this information with others from her community.
SIS also has short videos in 12 languages which explain people’s rights to an interpreter at appointments with public services and shows them how to contact SIS for support.
