Interpreting and translation services

Access to an interpreter

We offer an interpreting and translation service for patients using our services. This could be a:

  • face-to-face interpreter

  • video relay interpreter

  • conference telephone call to confirm your appointment or during your appointment.

We have access to many worldwide languages, from Arabic to Yoruba.

We also have access to:

  • British Sign Language (BSL)

  • Sign Supported English (SSE)

  • Lip-speakers

  • Speech to Text reporting

  • Makaton.

If you need an interpreter, please contact the person who has sent you the appointment letter, as they will need to fill in a booking form. Or a friend or family member can ask the person to phone you using the telephone interpreting service. They will need your full name, date of birth and NHS number.

If you require a sign language interpreter in order to contact us, see our video sign language interpreter service. You can use this to contact the hospital, with the BSL Interpreter phoning the department and speaking to the department that your appointment is with.

Clinical information and documents

If you need a letter or other document about your care to be translated into your preferred language, please contact the person who gave you with the document. Their details will be provided on your appointment letter.

Translating this website

If you require access to this website in your spoken language, you can use the following methods:

Method 1: your device / browser settings

If your device or web browser settings are set to display your chosen language, you will automatically see a notification offering to translate the web page you land on. This only happens when a different language is detected on the page.

Click ‘Translate’ on the notification, to see our website in your chosen language.

Method 2: Google Translate

Google Translate provides a free digital translation service. Please see below for steps to translate the East Kent Hospitals website into any given language:

  1. Open a web browser and go to Google Translate. You don't need a Google account to access it, because it's free to all

  2. On the right, choose the language you want to see the website in

  3. Click ‘Translate’.

Pages with issues

Please note, we are experiencing technical issues with the online translation of our web forms and collection pages (e.g. Services A-Z). These will not translate. This issue is being investigated.