An NHS Trust in England has spent over £400,000 on translation services last year despite struggling to fulfil its care duties, FoI data has revealed.
Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust spent £406,558 on translating in 2023-2024, with requests for Gujarati, Punjabi and Polish interpretation making up the bulk of the costs.
That’s enough to hire over 16 new nurses for a year or 14 new junior doctors on the same basis, frontline NHS staff who are desperately needed to tackle Britain’s increasingly sick population.
The figure was almost double the previous year’s cost of £262,300 (a 55 per cent increase) and was a five year high for interpretation costs.
Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust costs
GBN
The data also revealed that over the last five years, £1.7million has been spent on translation services, with Bengali, Arabic and Romanian being the next most translated languages.
It comes after the Care Quality Commission found Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust ‘needs improvement’ following concerns over safety and quality of services being provided.
Ward environments were ‘not always safe, clean, well maintained and fit for purpose,’ found inspectors, who also noted mental health services ‘did not always provide safe care.’
The Trust’s status of ‘requires improvement’ remained the same after the report was released.
Since the report, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust admitted liability for the death of Steve Dance, a 68-year-old grandfather who took his own life following multiple failings in his care.
Despite being diagnosed with psychotic depression, he was left without a visit from his community psychiatric nurse for at least four months.
Crucial warnings were ignored, including text messages in which he said he would be ‘better off dead.’
His wife's plea for hospital admission was not properly documented until after his death.
A serious investigation found ‘missed opportunities’ in ensuring he received timely and appropriate care.
The inquest also highlighted failures in communication between healthcare staff. The Trust has since apologised for providing ‘substandard care.’
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PAIt comes as Britain is gripped in a national debate over the merits of mass immigration.
Some argue mass migration puts strain on services like the NHS as immigrants are more likely to need translators, have health problems and have more children on the NHS.
But others argue immigration is key to propping up the NHS workforce and point to the OBR’s recent analysis that suggest it is the only thing stopping Britain sliding into recession.
Helen Fawcett, a British taxpayer who is concerned about the effects of mass migration, suggested migrants could help the NHS by volunteering.
Responding to previous FoI data about her local NHS trust spending hundreds of thousands on translation, she said: “I am furious about this.
“This situation is yet another result of far too much immigration. The expense is colossal, and I know most taxpayers will have no idea where their hard-earned money is being wasted.
“It seems to me the huge number of immigrants is putting too much strain on the NHS. Perhaps there could be some sort of volunteering effort from ethnic minorities to help with these translation costs.”
A spokesperson for Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust said: “Translation and interpretation services are a legal requirement and essential to deliver effective and safe patient care for the whole community. It is absolutely right we offer these services for those who need them, making sure nobody is excluded, discriminated against or left behind. This includes providing translations, sign language and easy read documents.”
