This article is from page 8 of the 2006-09-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
MIGRANTS attending hospitals in the area are using an informal network to communicate with medical staff, as it is impossible to provide around-the-clock translators for the 17 languages now spoken in Clare.
The Director of the Regional Health Office West, Dr Sean Conroy, told a meeting of the regional HSE Hospital Committee that informal translation networks were often in place before full networks were put in place.
The HSE West chief was responding to a series of questions on the health requirements of migrants from Clare County Councillor and HSE representative for the county, Cllr Brian Meaney (GP).
Cllr Meaney told the meeting that inward migration to Clare has meant that English is the minority language in one class in Ennis.
“What are the HSE putting in place for translation when people present at hospitals?” he asked.
The Clare councillor also asked if there were “illnesses that are not prevalent in native population that may need to be addressed.”
Dr Conroy told the councillor that it was not possible to provide translators for all of the languages presenting in each hospital.
He explained that to-date, hospitals have successfully dealt with nonEnglish speaking patients by asking a friend or family member to translate. In some cases there has also been hospital staff working in other departments, who may be fluent in some of the languages and are able to provide assistance.
This informal network is often in place before an official team of translators are employed, he said.