Interpreter Engagement in New South Wales Primary Care Settings

Language discordance poses significant challenges to healthcare access for non-English speakers in Australia. Despite the presence of a predominantly free Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS), existing literature shows that interpreter uptake by primary care services is extremely low. This paper examines one potential reason for this: the absence of interpreter engagement guidelines for primary care providers (PCPs). In this cross-sectional qualitative study, semi-structured phone interviews were employed to identify the current interpreter engagement procedures employed by PCPs in New South Wales (NSW). Purposive sampling was used to conduct 25 interviews; 13 with PCPs and 12 with Arabic speakers who have limited English proficiency (LEP). An inductive thematic analysis identified three main themes: (1) there is a considerable disparity in patient and practitioner knowledge of language services, (2) practitioners are aware of the importance of informed consent but do not engage interpreters to obtain it, (3) professional interpreting is frequently treated as a last resort due to a lack of interpreter engagement processes and other concerns.