Health Services: Refugees

(asked on 28th March 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2019 to Question 232640, what steps he is taking to ensure that refugees who don’t speak English are able to access statutory support for interpreters; and what steps he is taking to recruit additional interpreters.


Answered by
Jackie Doyle-Price Portrait
Jackie Doyle-Price
This question was answered on 2nd April 2019

The Government believes that it is right for commissioners locally to ensure they secure the best possible care and services, balancing demand with supply, for the benefit of their patients and local populations. This is in addition to NHS England’s guidance for commissioners ‘Interpreting and Translation Services in Primary Care’. Public Health England is working to improve healthcare professionals’ awareness of the needs of refugees. The Government is also developing a new strategy this year for English for speakers of other languages, following publication of the Integrated Communities Strategy Green Paper.

Reticulating Splines