To ask the Minister of Health whether the six-month pilot of 33 interpreting devices in the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust will be rolled out across all Health and Social Care Trusts.

Belfast Trust ran a sixmonth pilot of 33 interpreting devices from May 2025 to November 2025 across a range of unscheduled and emergency care settings, including Emergency Dental, Maternity and the Emergency Department. Although the pilot has now concluded, staff across these sites continue to use the devices due to the positive feedback received during evaluation. Frontline teams reported that the devices provided immediate, practical support at critical moments, such as “urgent care while waiting for a facetoface interpreter” (Maternity).

Although some Trusts have been using these hand-held interpreting devices to bridge communication gaps, they are currently only suited to a limited number of interactions. They do not replace face-to-face interpreting but instead help reduce language barriers for people who do not speak English proficiently. They support safe, timely and personcentred care during unscheduled care, crisis or emergency situations for individuals but only until a face to face or telephone interpreter can be sourced. They cannot be used for clinical information.

Whilst some Trusts are adopting digital solutions to interpreting, the devices are not in place across all of the HSC. The Northern, South Eastern and Western HSC Trusts have considered the Belfast Trust’s pilot and are exploring how they can also use the devices to enhance and support existing interpreting services. As mentioned above, they can only be regarded as supplementary to face-to-face interpreting

In 2023, however, the Southern HSC Trust sourced a digital translator device, aimed at improving direct communication between service users and healthcare professionals in the absence of third-party interpreters. An initial pilot with three devices was conducted in GP practices and community settings that year. Further to the success of this pilot, 65 devices were purchased in 2023/24 and an additional 65 in 2024/25. To date, these devices have been distributed across the following settings:

Emergency Departments (ED) in Craigavon Area Hospital and Daisy Hill Hospital

Hospital departments including X-Ray and Physiotherapy

GP Practices

Trust Community services including Gateway Teams, Specialist Nursing services for ethnic minority communities and Community Development and Inclusion services

Family Support Hubs and

Community and Voluntary Sector partner organisations.

Evaluation of the trial showed highly positive results:

100% of staff found the device easy to use.

95% agreed it improved patient contact.

84% felt it increased access to services and

96% supported making the device available in all health settings.

Patient feedback reinforced the device’s impact on dignity, confidentiality and comfort. Individuals from countries such as Bulgaria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, and Ukraine described feeling empowered and included in their healthcare interactions.

The initiative also included the rollout of language identification posters and interpreter cards in healthcare and community locations, addressing the first point of contact issues and aiding appropriate support deployment.

The rollout of the translation devices has been assessed as having led to the following outcomes:

Improved accessibility to the right service at the right time with the right support.

Increased confidence for staff and service users during initial contact.

Easier to navigate referral pathways for both service user and staff.

Increased staff knowledge and skills re; impact of language barrier and HSC inequalities and

Improved co-working and communication with our colleagues across all Directorates.

This initiative to provide Interpreting Devices in the HSC exemplifies how data-driven QI, community involvement, technological innovation and cultural competency training, can collectively reduce health inequalities and improve care delivery for minority ethnic populations in Northern Ireland.