Safety spotlight
An MNSI investigation highlighted the experience of a woman, whose first language was not English, who was given telephone interpretation during an obstetric emergency. Healthcare staff could not be assured that the urgency of the situation had been communicated through the interpreter. This contributed to the time taken to provide urgent care and concerns about whether she understood the information needed to give informed consent.
While there are some national standards for the interpreting services used in primary healthcare settings, there is no national requirement for interpreting services used in hospitals to have accreditation or healthcare-specific experience.
Finding from the investigation:
Telephone interpretation was used when an emergency caesarean birth was recommended. The investigation found that the information relayed to the woman was that the baby was 'tired' and not the urgency of the situation. A staff member who spoke the same language as the woman was asked to come to help. During this time there was a 20-minute fetal bradycardia and the additional time taken to communicate with the woman led to a delay in the birth of the baby.
Safety prompts:
- How has your trust considered and implemented the recommendations in NHSE Improvement framework: community language translation and interpreting services and the accessible information standard?
- How is your trust assured of the quality and accuracy of telephone interpretation services, including during obstetric emergencies?
- How are you using feedback from women, families and staff, alongside quality improvement methods, to strengthen and improve the trust’s interpretation and translation services?
- Does your procurement process for interpretation and translation service providers ensure qualification and training standards are defined, and the interpreters are registered (for example, with professional bodies such as the National Register of Public Service Interpreters)? Are quality metrics that can be regularly monitored built into contracts?
References
NHS England. (2025) Improvement framework: community language translation and interpreting services [Online]. Available at https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/improvement-framework-community-language-translation-and-interpreting-services/#recommendations-for-nhs-trusts (Accessed 3 November 2026).
NHS England. (2025) Accessible information standard [Online]. Available at https://www.england.nhs.uk/accessible-information-standard/ (Accessed 3 November 2026).
Further reading
RCOG (2025) Maternity Service Standards Framework. Available at RCOG Maternity Service Standards Framework (Accessed 3 November 2026)
RCOG (2025) Cross-Cultural Communication and Language Support: Standards for Maternity Care and Women’s Health. Available at RCOG Cross-Cultural Communication and Language Support: Standards for Maternity Care and Women’s Health | RCOG (Accessed 3 November 2026)