HCN Research Seminar on 16th November 2023 – Rethinking NHS care through a multilingual lens. 

Our next events on 16^th Nov 2023, 1-2pm

Location: IOE – 20 Bedford Way, Room W3.05

Talk:

• “I grew up speaking a sort of…alphabet soup”: rethinking NHS care through a multilingual lens. 

Emma Brooks, Institute of Education. Department of Culture, Communication & Media

Much of the prevailing research on the role of language in intercultural health communication, has been measured against the premise of fixed institutional, monocultural, monolingual/proficient user norms, where shared practices are often assumed (Sarangi & Roberts, 1999). In contrast, this talk calls for a reimagining of contemporary healthcare in the UK, where NHS data shows that staff are as likely to be as linguistically, ethnically, and socioculturally diverse as the patient populations they serve (House of Commons, 2022: NHS Workforce data, 2022). More recently, there has been a significant increase in the number of international healthcare professionals entering the UK workforce: in 2021, just under half of all midwives joining the NHS trained overseas, whereas over 50% of new medical graduates, who registered with the GMC, qualified outside the UK or the EEA (GMC, 2022; NMC, 2022). While it is important not to assume and conflate (inter)national or ethnolinguistic characteristics (Rosa and Flores, 2017), data suggests that the UK’s national health service is likely to comprise a number of multilingual staff.

This talk proposes that being able to draw on the linguistic skills of healthcare professionals may be to the advantage of diverse populations, many of whom are regularly and disproportionally represented in data recording adverse outcomes.  I draw on ethnographic observations of consultations and recent interviews with multilingual NHS professionals, to highlight the pragmatic and beneficial aspects of linguistic concordance between provider/patient. Thus, if patient wellbeing and comprehension are much improved, it becomes apparent that it may not be social actors who construct language(s) as a barrier, but the monolingual orientations of the systems within which they are obliged to operate. Nevertheless, in circumstances where (mis)understanding can have real-world clinical consequences, it is imperative that greater institutional consideration be given to the support and possible accreditation of multilingual health professionals. This will not only facilitate their visibility and demonstrate an appreciation of communication skills, but it will also recognise an invaluable contribution to advancing parity of care.

References 
General Medical Council (2022). The State of Medical Education and Practice in the UK: the Workforce Report 2022, General Medical Council (GMC) 
House of Commons – nationality of staff https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7783/ (accessed 16/02/2023) 
NHS Workforce Statistics, June 2022 [accessed 16/02/2023] 
NHS England/Primary Care Commissioning (2018). Guidance for commissioners: Interpreting and Translation Services in Primary Care [Accessed 16/02/2023] 
Nursing and Midwifery Council (2022). The NMC register, 1 April 2021-31 March 2022, Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) 
Rosa, J. and Flores, N. (2017) “Unsettling race and language: Toward a raciolinguistic perspective,” Language in Society. Cambridge University Press, 46(5), pp 621-647
Sarangi, S., & Roberts, C. (1999). The dynamics of interactional and institutional orders in work-related settings. Talk, work and institutional order: Discourse in medical, mediation and management settings, 1, 1-57.

Live stream link for those who can’t attend: (https://ucl.zoom.us/j/91423628654?pwd=SVBJbkZQbDdLalJKSEtZUEVTYVlSQT09 Passcode: 701285)