NHS England Launches New Language Framework to Address Patient Safety

“1 million people in the UK are unable to speak English well, or at all,” states a publication released by the National Health Service England (NHSE) to introduce the case for a comprehensive reform of language service provision.

According to the document, released on May 27, 2025, people in the UK who speak little to no English face significant health disparities. The new framework acknowledges this as a systemic issue, with census data revealing that only 65% of those who are not proficient in English report good health, compared to 88% of fluent English speakers.

Inquiries conducted by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) and the NHSE during the past decade indeed show that language services are fragmented, inconsistent, and often lead to patient safety incidents, poorer health outcomes, and increased costs. 

The framework proposes to address these challenges with five major “areas of action” in relation to translation and spoken language interpreting, namely leadership, quality and professional standards; access and barriers to services; equity, cultural sensitivity and rights; digital opportunities and challenges; and safety, confidentiality, and consent.

AI Chasm

“While translation apps provide a convenient, familiar and timely means of translation, they can also carry risks, particularly regarding accuracy and the potential impact on patient safety,” reads the section on digital opportunities and challenges within the new framework, highlighting concerns with the widespread use of the technology within the NHS. 

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Research conducted by the UK’s Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) and the University of Bristol in 2024, examined the unregulated use of translation tools like Google Translate and ChatGPT, in healthcare, legal, emergency, and police services, showing that over one-third of workers in those sectors indeed use AI translation at work.

Contrasting with the unregulated use of AI translation is the complete lack of translation services in some cases. The new NHSE framework illustrates this with examples such as the death of a child from a Romanian-speaking family in connection to untranslated written communications and an appointment system that did not support other languages.

The new proposal for language support in healthcare provision seeks to remedy documented issues with the ultimate goal of ensuring equitable access, enhancing patient safety, and fostering trust. The areas of action also align with existing legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and the NHS Act 2006 amended by the 2022 Act.