Language barriers in Vienna hospitals

As part of a wider investigation of cross-cultural communication practices in health care and social service institutions of Vienna, a survey among hospital staff was conducted to establish the need for mediated communication between service providers and non-German-speaking patients. The responses of 508 doctors, nurses and therapists demonstrate a substantial need for interpreting services, which is currently met by family members (most often children) and bilingual hospital employees (most often cleaners). Most of the respondents were well aware of the shortcomings of ad hoc interpreting arrangements and voiced a clear preference and demand for a hospital interpreting service to improve communication with and health care provision to non-German-speaking patients.