A doctor’s appointment
with translation help.

What happened

Nuria has an unfamiliar sentence translated. The phone’s output sounds odd, so she asks about it and the doctor explains the expression more simply. The practice requests a trained interpreter for important medical discussions. The translation mix-up is fictional. The story takes place in Germany, with translation from German into Spanish; the dialogue and phone output are shown here in English.

When to ask for clarification

An answer does not fit the question, the wording sounds odd or you cannot understand what it means. These are reasons to ask questions, rather than reliable ways to detect errors. Even a fluent translation can be wrong. [1]

Three steps

1. Before the appointment: Write down your questions. Ask the practice well in advance about qualified interpreting, arrangements and costs. Someone accompanying you can offer support; children should not interpret. [2]
2. During the conversation: Short sentences, pauses and speaking directly to the patient help. If something is unclear, stop and ask for a simpler explanation. In a conversation with a professional interpreter, repeat what you have understood in your own words. [2]
3. For important matters: Clarify diagnoses, medicines, information about treatment and consent reliably with the care team and a qualified interpreter. An unchecked everyday app is not enough as the sole basis for this. In Germany, the information given before consent must be understandable to the person concerned. [1] [3]

What still needs to be checked

Whether interpreting is available and who pays for it needs to be clarified in each case. The UK sources describe principles of professional communication; their NHS funding rules are not being applied to Germany here.

Personal health information should only be entered into suitable applications whose data protection arrangements have been clarified. The story does not promise secure data processing by any particular app. [4]