Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to the public purse was of providing language translators in (a) hospitals and (b) health centres in each year since 2010.

Translation and interpreting services for hospitals and health centres are commissioned by local National Health Service organisations who may hold this data.

The Department and NHS England have not estimated the potential cost to the public purse of these services used by the NHS.

Section 13G of the National Health Service Act 2006 states NHS England must have regard to the need to reduce inequalities between patients, including with respect to access to health services. NHS England guidance stipulates that where language is a problem in discussing health matters a professional interpreter should always be offered. It is the responsibility of NHS service providers to ensure interpreting and translation services are made available to their patients free at the point of delivery.