Revisiting the interpreting service in the healthcare sector: a descriptive overview

Over the past decade many studies have shown that ad hoc interpreting services are still the norm for the healthcare sector in the South African context. The healthcare sector in the Western Cape is characterised by primarily Afrikaans and English-speaking doctors, or medical practitioners in general, who do not understand Xhosa-speaking patients. In order to bridge this language gap, ad hoc interpreting services are employed, which are rendered by family members of a patient, nurses, or at times even by porters or cleaners. As a result of the fact that these ad hoc interpreters lack training in interpreting theory and practice, they tend to distort communication, which impacts negatively on the quality of the healthcare that the patient receives. This consequent lack of quality in healthcare therefore can be directly related to the quality of the interpreted product that the interpreter renders. The goal of this article is to investigate interpreting practices within three tertiary hospitals, and to reflect on the quality of the service rendered by the interpreters at these hospitals, whether ad hoc or fully-employed interpreters.