title: [The professional interpreter disappears: quality is jeopardized].
abstract: According to Dutch law, patients have the right to comprehensible communication. However, professional interpreters are not being used sufficiently: health care providers often do not recognize when language barriers interfere with comprehension. The use of professional interpreters declined even further when the Dutch government withdrew its funding for medical interpreters in January 2012. Additionally, the government's stance that non-native speakers have to master the language and organize translating help when needed seems to have given a signal to health care providers that this is not their responsibility. Nonetheless, health care providers are obliged by law to provide comprehensible information. Therefore, it is important to provide proper training so they can recognize language barriers and know when a professional interpreter is necessary. In addition, a financial aid system needs to be developed for those patients who cannot reasonably be expected to have mastered the language.
authors: VUmc, afd. Metamedica, Amsterdam.
authors: Irene
authors: I
authors: Langendijk-van den Berg
authors: Petra
authors: P
authors: Verdonk
authors: Tineke
authors: T
authors: Abma
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D003144:Communication Barriers; D005006:Ethnicity; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D009426:Netherlands; D014175:Translating