There is a critical challenge facing the NHS right now: how do we ensure equitable access to care for all patients, regardless of language, literacy or background? Approximately 6.6 million people in England alone have poor literacy, hindering their ability to understand new information on unfamiliar topics like health, which leads to poorer health outcomes and barriers to care.
Miscommunication in healthcare is not just an inconvenience, it’s a patient safety issue. Take the heartbreaking story of a Romanian-speaking child who died after missing crucial appointments because the family couldn’t understand the English letters they received1. This isn’t an isolated incident, it’s a symptom of a much larger problem which is getting worse over time. An OECD report on literacy showed 18% of adults in England had low literacy proficiency (below PIAAC Level 1), compared to the OECD average of 26%. Translation and interpretation technology in healthcare is already addressing communication barriers but using AI’s scalable and reliable development can significantly enhance its scope and capacity, transforming these barriers into bridges and ensuring language no longer determines access to life-saving care.
At CardMedic, we are committed to supporting the NHS in delivering safe, inclusive, and effective care through ethical and accessible AI-driven communication solutions. Interpreter services remain an essential component of healthcare, but they can sometimes be difficult to access quickly and consistently. NHS organisations collectively invest significant resources into interpretation and language services — with some trusts allocating over £2m each year. Despite this, many providers continue to face challenges, including gaps in service provision and limited integration with electronic patient records (EPRs).
A recent HealthWatch report highlighted how language barriers can contribute to litigation issues and inefficiencies, including delays and duplicated tasks, with estimated costs of over £1 billion annually. CardMedic’s responsible AI platform is designed to complement and strengthen existing language services by providing a reliable, evidence-based, and cost-effective solution. By streamlining access to communication support, our platform can help reduce inefficiencies, improve integration with digital systems, and enhance both the reach and deliverability of interpretation and translation services—ultimately benefiting patients, healthcare settings and and interpreter teams alike
Clinician-in-the-loop philosophy
At CardMedic our approach to AI is grounded in a clinician-in-the-loop philosophy. Unlike generic AI translation tools, which are discouraged in clinical settings due to accuracy and privacy concerns, our platform is co-developed with clinical experts and all AI-supported content is co-developed with clinical experts and undergoes rigorous analysis by clinician users and clinical reviewers.
To enhance linguistic diversity and accuracy, we use a selection of carefully curated AI tools to support content creation based on the clinical context. By not relying on one tool alone, we mitigate the risk of limited data sets creating bias based on ethnicity or gender. This multi-layered approach ensures our translations are both technically robust and clinically appropriate.
By delivering medical information at an average reading age of 6-8 years we ensure accessibility for patients with varying levels of health literacy. This is critical in a system where miscommunication can lead to worse clinical outcomes, increased health inequality, lower patient satisfaction and increased healthcare use. CardMedic’s rigorous clinical oversight ensures content is accurate, culturally sensitive and supports health literacy across language barriers, amplifying clinical excellence while improving efficiency, scalability and consistency in service quality. Ultimately, our AI-powered platform delivers a scalable, cost-effective tool which enhances patient-centred care and reduces unnecessary appointments, aligning with the NHS 10 Year Plan.
Overcoming Western bias in AI
Bias in AI, particularly Western cultural bias, is a huge concern in healthcare, where errors can have life-altering consequences. CardMedic addresses this through both technical and social approaches to ensure our AI solutions are ethically balanced and appropriate for all end users.
We also have robust internal testing and validation processes to ensure safe and effective application within groups who need it most, helping to minimise cultural bias and ensuring inclusivity. This commitment aligns with the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act, which mandates that high-risk AI systems, such as those used in medical settings, be safe, transparent and non-discriminatory. We are very much trying to set the standard for ethical AI in healthcare, ensuring no patient is disadvantaged due to cultural or linguistic barriers.
Practical AI applications transforming care
Our responsible approach to AI translates into concrete solutions that address real-world healthcare challenges such as:
- Breaking down sign language barriers. We are increasing access to vital sign language services by providing clinically accurate, photo-realistic signing avatars, addressing the critical shortage of BSL interpreters across the NHS.
- Intelligent workflow integration. We’ve integrated automated workflows between the leading digital consent platform, Concentric, and CardMedic, with the ability to access live interpreters with one click or tap, instantly. Behind the scenes, CardMedic understands the patient’s needs and connects the clinician with the most appropriate language service. This ensures informed consent is supported irrespective of any communication barriers, preventing non-clinical cancellations and improving patient safety.
- Smart service access. Our language services portal supports rapid access the most appropriate provider of interpreter services or CardMedic content for any situation – based on the patient’s needs, organisational requirements and interpreter availability.
Giving patients agency while reducing clinician burden
Sir Jim Mackey, CEO of NHS England, is a big advocate for modernising the NHS’s outdated systems. In a recent conversation with the Patients Association, he emphasised the need for patient-centred solutions in order to shape a more transparent, accountable and patient-focused NHS4.
At CardMedic we want to revolutionise healthcare communication by reducing the cognitive burden on healthcare professionals whilst empowering patients with faster access to accurate, clinically validated and personalised language support. Our platform represents the next step in delivering scalable, impactful solutions that improve health literacy for patients, provide more quality holistic care and improve the patient experience.
We want to complement human expertise, creating a hybrid model where technology enhances clinical excellence. By 2035, in alignment with the NHS’s 10 Year Plan, we envision a healthcare landscape where seamless clinician-patient communication reduces A&E visits and empowers patients to manage their conditions effectively.
The future of healthcare communication
The global language services market is valued at £78.9 billion, with the healthcare segment representing £8.1 billion. This market is anticipated to grow driven by demographic changes, policy and regulation, operational pressures, and digital health acceleration, reflecting the increasing recognition that effective communication is fundamental to quality healthcare delivery. By responsibly embedding clinical-grade AI language support alongside human interpreters into frontline workflows, we can enhance access and equity while improving clinical efficiency and delivering substantial cost savings.
However, challenges remain. Regulatory frameworks, such as the 2024 Section 1557 rule in the US, mandate human review of AI-translated critical content, reflecting caution about unchecked AI use. In the UK, NHS England’s 2025 improvement framework emphasises data privacy and patient consent for digital translation tools. As a GDPR-compliant platform, CardMedic addresses these concerns, offering a secure, scalable solution that respects patient confidentiality whilst ensuring no patient is left behind due to language or literacy barriers.
Explore how CardMedic’s responsible AI platform is transforming care delivery, making it more accessible, equitable, and efficient. Learn more about what we’re doing.
