Skip to content
Contents

Translation & Interpreting Services

Reference: 23-24332

Date response sent: 20/11/2023

Details of enquiry

See below for ‘details of enquiry’ and ‘response sent’

Response sent

1 What is the size of the resident population that your organisation serves?
  Response:

Not applicable.  The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health Trust, and not a hospital.  We provide outpatient, and mainly psychological, services on a national basis.  We do not have a local catchment area.
1.1 What percentage of the resident population in the area that your organisation serves are non-native English speakers?
  Response:

Not applicable.  See response to question 1 above
1.2 Does your organisation predict that the number of non-native English speakers living in the area that you serve will increase, reduce or stay the same in the next 5 years?
  Response:

See Response to Question 1.  We do not hold data on any growth of non-native English speakers across the nation.  Furthermore please note that  the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) applies to recorded information that exists at the time of the request.  It does not require an authority to answer questions where this would involve speculation and/or the creation of new information, and this question can only be answered by creating new information
2 Does your organisation hire any professional written translation or spoken interpreting services to aid communication with people who may have difficulties understanding English?
  Response:

Yes
2.1 If your organisation hires professional translation or interpreting services, for what type of material do you use these services?

(E.g., do you hire professional translation services to translate website content, correspondence, legal documents? Do you hire interpreting services for meetings, interviews, anything else?)
  Response:

We engage the services of a translation company to assist with patient engagement during appointments, to produce correspondence to patients and to produce materials in the language required e.g. experience of service questionnaires.  We do not hold information on the actual media type as we have a single accounting code for all interpreting and translation activity..
2.2 If your organisation hires professional translation or interpreting services, can you please provide figures for how much was spent by your organisation on these services and what percentage of your total expenditure this amounted to for the last 4 financial years?
  Response:
 
Financial year Translation & interpreting expenditure % of total expenditure  
2018/19: £    108,832 Please refer to Trust’s annual expenditure data which is publicly availably at Annual reports and quality accounts – Tavistock and Portman from which you can calculate the requested annual percentage of spend on Translation and Interpreting
2019/20: £    92,022
2020/21: £    134,668
2021/22: £    82,425
2.3 Does your organisation predict that the percentage of spending on translation and interpreting services will increase, reduce or stay the same in the next 5 years?
  Response:

We do not hold this data.  Please see  our response to question 1.2 above
3 Is machine translation (e.g. a translation app such as Google Translate) used in any way in your organisation?
  Response:

No

 

 

 
3.1 If machine translation is used in your organisation, under what circumstances is it used?

(Please specify by whom, in which context, using which tools, and the reason of use.)
  Response:

Not applicable.  See response to question 3 above
4 Does your organisation follow a formal policy approving, prohibiting or regulating the use of machine translation tools in your organisation?
  Response:

No
4.1 If your organisation follows a formal policy for the use of machine translation, can you attach a copy of such policy to your response and/or provide a link to where it can be accessed?
  Response:

Not applicable.  See response to question 3 above
5 Has your organisation carried out a risk assessment of possible consequences, for your organisation and/or for the people the organisation serves, from the use of machine translation?

 
  Response:

Not applicable.  See response to question 3 above
5.1 If your organisation has carried out a risk assessment of the use of machine translation, please can you specify the risks your organisation identified?
  Response:

Not applicable.  See response to question 3 above
6 Do you have an established line of accountability in the event of negative outcomes that may arise from the use of machine translation?

(E.g., an incident caused by misinformation in an important document, or by miscommunication between staff and member of the public using a phone app.)
  Response:

Not applicable.  See response to question 3 above
6.1 If you have an established line of accountability, can you explain how this guides response procedures to a possible negative outcome from the use of machine translation?
  Response:

Not applicable.  See response to question 3 above
7 Is any training provided on the use of machine translation in your organisation?
  Response:

Not applicable.  See response to question 3 above
7.1 If training is provided on the use of machine translation in your organisation, can you please provide an overview of the training offered?
  Response:

Not applicable.  See response to question 3 above
8 Does your organisation have any other procedures in place to adjust your communication strategy for people who may have difficulties understanding English? If so, please explain.
  Response:

Not applicable.  See response to question 3 above
9 If we would like to follow up with your organisation for the purpose of further research relating to translation and/or interpreting in your organisation, could you please provide the most suitable email address to contact?
  Response:

The procurement manager: procurement@tavi-port.nhs.uk
Back to top