Reflections from the HIN KSS Webinar
Imagine this: you’re the on-duty midwife. A woman arrives in advanced labour, speaking little or no English. Her history is unclear. Complications are possible. Every second matters.
What do you do?
- Hope a staff member speaks her language?
- Rely on an app that only partially meets her needs?
- Spend precious minutes trying to access interpreting support?
- How can innovation help?
At a recent Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex (HIN KSS) webinar, our CCO Jim Gabriel joined fellow innovators to explore what equitable innovation looks like. How can it address the challenges that clinicians face on a regular basis?
The scale of communication barriers in the UK
To improve health equity, we need to acknowledge the size of the challenge. Millions of people in the UK face communication barriers that directly affect their ability to access and engage with healthcare.
- Language: ~1 million people speak little or no English
- Cognitive needs: ~2 million people experience communication challenges (learning disabilities, autism, dementia)
- Sensory impairment: ~18 million people live with hearing loss or tinnitus
- Health literacy: 43% of working-age adults struggle with health literacy
Any innovation that overlooks these groups is incomplete. Inclusivity must be built in from the start.
How CardMedic aligns with the 10 Principles of Health Equity**
The HIN KSS 10 Principles of Health Equity provide a strong framework for innovators. CardMedic aims to be the world’s most inclusive healthcare communication platform. Here’s how it aligns closely with each of them.
- People: Meeting underserved needs
Communication gaps disproportionately affect certain communities. Migrant women face higher risks in maternity care. Deaf patients often leave appointments without fully understanding their diagnosis.
CardMedic helps bridge these gaps through:
- Clinically validated content in 50+ languages and formats, including BSL, Easy Read and Read Aloud
- A reading level of 6 to 8 years for maximum accessibility
- One-tap access to 200+ languages through live human interpreters
As midwife Benesh Nazmeen put it, CardMedic improves communication “for those who are underserved, isolated and marginalised.”
- Data: Measuring inequalities and impact
Communication needs are rarely recorded in clinical systems, which means inequalities too often remain invisible.
CardMedic helps close this gap by targeting unmet communication needs. We identify measurable impact by linking communication support benefit directly to patient outcomes.
At Epsom & St Helier, analysis using BadgerNet data identified annual savings of £30k to £50k by reducing neonatal readmissions after CardMedic implementation. A separate service evaluation also found patient understanding of staff rose to 95% using CardMedic.
- Care: Co-design with people who face barriers
We design with the people who rely on communication support, and align with valuable health technology standards.
This includes:
- Close work with equality teams, PALs leads, and VCSE partners
- Clinicians, interpreters, and patients shaping scripts, features, and workflows
- Collaboration with charities such as Include (inclusive speech & language experts)
- Ensuring full compliance with accessibility, data protection, and clinical safety standards
CardMedic was created by a clinician who knows there is no room for error in critical communication.
- Clinical & workforce: Supporting staff
Communication breakdowns put clinicians under enormous pressure. We asked staff about their communication challenges, which revealed:
- 69% of clinicians experience communication issues daily or weekly
- 89% feel current support is inadequate
Workarounds, such as using family members, online tools, or partial information, pose a significant risk.
CardMedic provides a single point of access for communication support, with our new Call an Interpreter functionality allowing staff to reach a live interpreter with one tap, simple, safe, and fast.
- Digital: Preventing exclusion
Digital tools can either reduce or widen inequalities. We designed CardMedic to be:
- Readable at a 6–8 year level
- Fully accessible with BSL and Easy Read
- Usable online and offline
- Device-agnostic, to work anywhere
- Grounded in a clinician-in-the-loop model to ensure safety and accuracy
CardMedic supports digital transformation without leaving anyone behind.
6–9. Systemic equity: Finance, Place, Climate, Policy
Inclusive communication drives improvement across multiple system priorities referenced in the Equity Framework:
- Finance: Reduces reliance on high-cost face-to-face interpreting
- Place: Supports consistency across multiple care settings
- Climate: Minimises travel for interpreters and patients
- Policy: Aligns with the Accessible Information Standard, WGLL, the NHS Language Services Improvement Framework, and Core20PLUS5
- Communication: Let customers do the talking
Ultimately, the most compelling voices are those who use CardMedic every day.
If we think back to where we started this story, what message would you like to hear when placed in such a situation>
Race equity lead and midwife Maggie Myatt captured it perfectly:
“While the midwife calls an interpreter, the patient can start communicating immediately using CardMedic. Even if an emergency interpreter is delayed, CardMedic enables consent and care to proceed safely.”
Powerful. Human. Real.
Final reflections
For innovators seeking to embed health equity into their solutions, we’d say:
- Understand the scale of the problem, and show how it affects everyday care
- Work with staff and communities to co-design meaningful solutions
- Communicate not just the technical features, but the human impact
For us, the message is simple:
Communication is fundamental to achieving health equity. Care becomes safer, fairer, and more human when every person can understand and be understood.
As co-founder and CMO, Dr Rachael Grimaldi, reminds us:
“When people can communicate clearly, care becomes safer, fairer, and more human.”
