Via Politiken:
A report from the Immigrant Clinic at Odense University Hospital lists an array of serious problems that have occurred as a result of immigrant patients not getting the interpreting help they need in order to fully understand their treatment process.
The report not only addresses the problem of bad interpreting, but also the fact that immigrant patients do not always get the interpreting help they are entitled to.
“We often see that interpreters have not been present during consultations, examinations and treatment. Immigrants become insecure and don’t know what to do,” Immigrant Clinic Chief Physician Morten Sodemann tells Avisen.dk.
The report says that in some cases, general practitioners have told interpreters to leave the room during consultations because the doctor has felt that the patient’s Danish was good enough – despite protests from the patient. Some interpreters have reported that staff talks to the patient in Danish without using the interpreter.
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