Session on cultural competency a big hit

We recently contributed to a training day, helping NHS staff to work in a culturally competent way with linguists. The training was delivered by Central and North West London NHS Trust Community Development Manager, Michelle Poponne, who is conducting a piece of work with the BME Health Forum on the subject.

On the day, the BME Health Forum gave a presentation, covering topics such as:

• Understanding differences in dialects – not all Arabic, for example, is the same.
• The importance of booking the right interpreter for the patient.
• Why the TLS bookings team will sometimes check if there are interpreter groups that a patient would prefer not to work with, for geo-political reasons.
• Why some service users do not want to have translators from their own community and why this could cause patients to disengage.

TLS supported the presentation and explained:

• The services we offer.
• How to book an interpreter.
• Best practice when working with an interpreter.

Customers who attended found the session informative and useful, one commenting: “I learnt so much from you both. I certainly believe it has helped the team to understand how vitally important it is that we get it right when requesting and working with interpreters, how best to access the interpreting service and how important it is to really listen to our patient’s needs.”

If your organisation is planning to run a session on interpreting, equality and diversity or accessibility, we are happy to help incorporate communication support into it. Speak to your account manager in the first instance.