Nevertheless, our study may help clinicians better communicate with LEP patients in the absence of interpreters.
Referral for specialist services was not possible in the absence of specialists speaking local languages, and in the absence of interpreters.
The absence of interpreters in the department to administer questionnaires meant that some patients for whom a translated questionnaire was not available may have been excluded from the study.
A number of respondents mentioned that they were sometimes able to obtain the same interpreter each time they visited the GP but two respondents suggested that in the absence of an interpreter, bilingual dictionaries could be used, either before or during a consultation as an aid to communication.
Why – when the absence of an interpreter or the failure of a prison van to collect a prisoner delays proceedings – should the business not bear the cost as opposed to the taxpayer?
For example, several interviewees mentioned that individuals who do not speak or understand English are unable to participate in the majority of studies due to the absence of funding for interpreter and translation services.
Currently South Africa has 11 official languages; therefore language barriers, especially the absence of adequately trained interpreters to assist healthcare professionals in providing care to patients is a major problem.
According to NCD's Report, people with disabilities still encounter architectural, attitudinal and technological barriers when exercising their right to vote, including, no automatic door openers, an absence of American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters, no Braille signs or ramps; narrow doorways and inaccessible voting machines.
They then settled into a creative groove with big pictures like "Three Days of the Condor," "Jeremiah Johnson," "The Way We Were," "The Electric Horseman," "Havana," "Absence of Malice," "The Firm," "Sabrina" and "The Interpreter".
We were also unable to explore how individual clinicians' communication styles vary according to the presence/absence and type of interpreter (family member vs. professional).
