Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many interpreters have been employed by or for the NHS in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what the cost of such interpreters has been.

We do not hold this information centrally. National Health Service organisations have a duty to follow equalities legislation. This includes making sure their communities can understand information about the trust's services and that patients and clinicians can communicate with each other.