Communication Errors in Healthcare
Incorrect communication in healthcare can result in clinical errors, delays in treatment, and long-term injury. One notable example occurred in Florida, when an 18-year-old named Willie Ramirez was admitted to hospital in a comatose state. His Spanish-speaking family used the word “intoxicado”, which hospital staff interpreted as “intoxicated”. In fact, the family meant “poisoned” – possibly from food or another ingested substance.
As a result, the medical team focused on treating a suspected drug overdose and failed to identify a brain haemorrhage. The delay in diagnosis caused permanent quadriplegia. The incident led to a reported malpractice settlement of $71 million.
A more recent example occurred in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic, when language barriers affected the delivery of care to migrant and refugee populations. According to a 2020 study published in Global Health Action, lack of access to professional interpreting in hospitals led to confusion regarding COVID-19 symptoms, consent for testing, and quarantine procedures.
In one case reported by the Red Cross, a Romanian-speaking patient was admitted to a Spanish hospital in 2020. The person had tested positive for COVID‑19 and had been cared for in a shared shelter after temporary isolation.
At the time of discharge, hospital staff provided instructions in Spanish. No professional interpreter was present. The patient did not grasp the requirement to remain in isolation until they had a negative test result. They returned to the common refuge, still infected. Over the next week, three more people at the shelter tested positive. Public health officers followed their cases back to the discharged patient. The Spanish Red Cross characterised this event as an example of how language barriers might impede containment efforts. It found that, among migrant and refugee groups, access to interpreting was limited while demand rose during the epidemic.
Prevalence of Translation Issues in Healthcare
These examples highlight the clinical risk posed by mistranslation in healthcare settings. The problem is not restricted to isolated cases; data show that language problems are a common difficulty in medical care.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), communication failures are one of the leading causes of patient harm globally. In the UK, the NHS Race and Health Observatory has highlighted that language barriers contribute to health inequalities, delayed diagnoses, and reduced uptake of services among minority ethnic communities.
Office for National Statistics reports that in England, approximately 9% of the population do not speak English as their main language. This creates a systemic need for clear and accurate interpretating and translation, particularly in emergency care, consent processes, and public health information.
Translation in medical contexts is not a matter of direct word-for-word conversion. It requires an understanding of medical terminology, clinical workflows, and cultural context. Inaccurate translations -whether they be of prescriptions, discharge instructions, or consent forms – can result in non-adherence to treatment, misdiagnoses, or clinical incidents.
As health systems across the UK and internationally become more linguistically diverse, professional translation services are not an optional resource. They are essential for clinical safety, informed consent, and equitable access to care.