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CardMedic and SparkTSL at Stockport: communication support from the bedside to the community
One launch across every hospital and community service, CardMedic at the bedside on SparkTSL’s devices, and professional interpreters one tap away – the first year at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust.
By CardMedic · · 4 min read
At a glance
- One launch, every service – all hospital and community settings, for the Trust’s 6,300 staff
- At the bedside on 455 SPARK Fusion® devices across 20 wards at Stepping Hill Hospital
- 70% more patient interactions in year one
- Under £4 per interaction through CardMedic, with interpreter calls placed in the app included, against £26 through traditional routes
- The Trust’s own figures – recorded activity and its own language-service costs, with cost per interaction calculated by us on that data. Not an independent evaluation
The setting
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust provides acute and community services to a diverse local population. Reliance on face-to-face interpreting had led to rapidly rising costs, and communication barriers were affecting patient experience and safety.
Many of the conversations that matter most on a ward are short and frequent – a question about pain, a drink, what happens next. They are rarely the ones an interpreter is booked for, and they are where support is hardest to provide.
Communication at the bedside
The Trust had already put SparkTSL’s SPARK Fusion® devices at the bedside on its wards at Stepping Hill Hospital. Working with SparkTSL, CardMedic now runs on 455 of them, so communication support is already within reach of the patient and the staff member in front of them.
The Trust introduced CardMedic across all its hospital and community services in one launch, from emergency and maternity units to community midwives, school nurses, Macmillan nurses and district nurses. Staff can choose the right support for the person and the conversation:
- Clinically assured content – prepared cards for everyday exchanges, with Easy Read, Read Aloud and British Sign Language
- Live Translate – a machine-translation feature, with stated limits, for appropriate conversations that need to go back and forth
- Professional interpreter access – one tap to the Trust’s existing interpreting provider
Kurdish Sorani, one of the most widely spoken languages in the local community, was added to CardMedic for the Trust.
What the first year showed
In its first year, the Trust recorded 70% more patient interactions, for a 9.6% increase in overall language-service spend. On the Trust’s own activity and cost data, an interaction through CardMedic cost under £4, with interpreter calls placed in the app included, against £26 through traditional routes. Across the whole language service, the average fell from £26 to around £16.
The extra interactions came from everyday conversations that weren’t happening before, not from fewer interpreter calls. Because the licence is fixed, the more it is used, the lower the average cost of each conversation becomes.
These are one organisation’s figures, not a promise for any other. The full figures, including accessible-format use, are in the Stockport case study.
What people said
Pam Fearns, Chief Nursing Information Officer at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, led the implementation:
“CardMedic will enable patients to voice their needs where previously they may have struggled to communicate them. All conversations – such as asking whether someone wants a cup of tea, explaining a procedure, or offering reassurance – play a vital role in ensuring inclusivity. CardMedic enables equality across our services.”
Jane Stephenson, CEO at SparkTSL, said:
“This pioneering project demonstrates how technology can strengthen patient-centred care. We’re proud to be working with Stockport NHS Foundation Trust and CardMedic on embedding inclusive communication support in our SPARK Fusion® bedside devices. Together, we’re making healthcare more accessible for all.”
Dr Rachael Grimaldi, Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of CardMedic, said:
“Stockport NHS Foundation Trust has demonstrated what equitable care in action looks like. No patient will be left without a voice in their care. By embedding CardMedic across wards and bedside devices, enabled through our partnership with SPARK TSL, they’re enabling communication that is instant, safe, and scalable.”
Interpreters remain central
CardMedic supports the many everyday conversations; professional interpreters remain essential for the ones that need them. Professional interpreting remains the right route for conversations such as consent, safeguarding, mental capacity assessments, breaking bad news, complaints, and complex or open-ended discussions, and wherever local policy, clinical risk or professional judgement calls for it.
CardMedic is provider-neutral: the Trust chooses its interpreting providers, keeps control of the pathway, and has a fixed organisational licence that does not rise with interpreter minutes.
Read the Stockport case study, the Trust’s announcement and SparkTSL’s article. To talk about what this could look like in your organisation, get in touch.