Language barriers are creating problems for non-speaking foreigners, including migrants, as well as doctors at Mater Dei Hospital and other health centres, where no proper interpreter system exists, this paper has learnt.

Sources explained that non-English speaking migrants and other foreigners would find it very hard to explain their problems, making it difficult for doctors to come up with a correct diagnosis.

One source said: “It can be difficult for Maltese-speaking persons to correctly describe the pain they are feeling, let alone for a Sub-Saharan African who can barely grasp a few words in English.

“The same can be said for tourists – many who visit Malta do not speak English - although finding a doctor who speaks Italian, Spanish or French might not be that difficult.”

Medical Association of Malta President Gordon Caruana Dingli confirmed that the language barrier is a real problem which is mostly felt in the A&E section. “When we see patients at the outpatients section they are usually accompanied by a translator, even though I do not know who takes care of that. The problem is when non- English-speaking foreigners are brought into the emergency department, especially during the middle of the night.”

Mr Caruana Dingli said this was a problem that happened all around the world, not only in Malta. “Ideally we should have a more organized translation system rather than an ad-hoc one. Another proposal is to have printed cards with a translation of the most common questions asked by doctors.”

The MAM President said he would make the suggestion at the next hospital administration meeting.

Mr Caruana Dingli said it was a huge problem for doctors if they were not able to understand their patients. “This does not only happen with migrants but also with tourists.”

The MAM President said he did not believe that this happened very frequently, and the issue was never brought up within the union. However he said he was aware that it happened on a number of occasions. 

Aditus Director Neil Falzon also said this was a serious problem that was not only taking place at Mater Dei but also at other health centres and institutions, including Mount Carmel. The authorities, he said, are trying to tackle the issue through employed translators or others on a case to case basis.

A few years ago the government set up the Migrant Health Liaison Office with this problem in mind, seeing that the migrant population was growing at the time.

The Office brief says that migrants coming from different cultural backgrounds are often unfamiliar with the health care system of the host country and do not know how, when and where to seek help. Language barriers may also impede utilization of health services.

Health Professionals are nowadays facing new challenges due to cultural differences in the explanation for the cause of disease and the interpretation of symptoms. Cultural diversity in health care poses a challenge to service providers who need to manage complex differences in communication styles, attitudes as well as expectations. 

The objectives of the unit include delivery of the Training Programme for Cultural Mediators in Health Care and the provision of translated materials (booklets and posters) for migrants on health topics. However, interpreters have never been provided up till now.

This paper is informed that a person has been offering interpretation services on a voluntary basis for a number of years but this has never become official. A source said Mater Dei Hospital plans to engage a number of official interpreters in the coming months.

The Health Ministry said Mater Dei Hospital presently uses an internal pool of its employees with multi lingual skills to address most of these instances. “There are occasions when Mater Dei also requests such services from third parties such as embassies. Furthermore, the Migrant Health Liaison office taps into a number of cultural mediators who offer these services within the Primary Health network.”

The language problem barrier was, for a time, further compounded by the employment of foreign nurses lacking in language skills. In an interview published today (see page 6), two Spanish nurses said that nurses are nowadays being screened for their language skills.

One of the nurses said: “The worst off are nurses whose English is not too good since the majority of patients who seek treatment at Mater Dei can speak English, with the exception of certain elderly people. But nurses are screened beforehand for their language abilities so in Malta’s case you don’t get much of these cases arising.

“In our case, we do get by since we can speak English. At times, neither the patient nor his or her relatives speak a word of English and we feel alone in these circumstances but it is part of our role to find a way to deal with the situation and give the patient the necessary care.”