When an interpreter cannot be sourced, maternity staff still need to be understood
A short-term evaluation across Leicester General Hospital and Leicester Royal Infirmary, in a city where 59.7% of births are to non-UK-born parents.
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
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Over 150
Staff using it during the evaluation
Maternity department, two sites
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47%
Used it to relay short, simple instructions
Of staff surveyed during the evaluation
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24%
Used it when an interpreter could not be obtained
Of staff surveyed during the evaluation
The situation
UHL serves around a million residents across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, and Leicester has the highest proportion of births to non-UK-born parents in the East Midlands. More than 11% of the population speaks a language other than English as a main language. Families who have recently arrived often have no local support network, which makes services harder to reach.
What the Trust was working around
Where an interpreter was not available, staff reported falling back on friends, family, multilingual colleagues or machine translation. Sourcing formal support can delay care in acute settings, and introducing a third party into a sensitive maternity conversation is not always appropriate.
What was deployed
Maternity scripts for catheter insertion during labour, fetal movement discussions and infant feeding, in the formats the department needed – including Easy Read and Read Aloud for literacy, cognitive and visual needs rather than language alone. Nominated user champions supported registration and day-to-day use.
What the evaluation recorded
Surveyed staff described using it in three distinct ways: 47% for short, simple instructions, 29% when there was no time to arrange other translation support, and 24% when an interpreter could not be obtained. Midwives also used it during newborn and infant physical examination checks.
“CardMedic has helped us fill gaps in service provision on the occasions when interpreters can’t be sourced. Maternity staff at UHL have embraced CardMedic with open arms, as the app has allowed us to quickly and easily communicate vital information to service users, improving their experience and reducing their anxiety.”
How to read this
This was a short-term evaluation in one department, and the percentages describe how surveyed staff said they used it – not measured clinical outcomes. Reduced anxiety and improved experience are reported by staff rather than independently measured.