Diverse communities in Somerset face barriers to healthcare, report says

Lisa Jeronimo works as a carer and said members of the East Timor community often asked for her help

The children of migrants often have to translate their parents' sexual health appointments due to NHS interpretation issues in Somerset, researchers found.

Language barriers were among the complex factors preventing people from diverse ethnicities in the county from using NHS health services, they said.

People from different backgrounds have been asked to share their experience of healthcare to help improve it.

Health bodies tasked charity Somerset Diverse Communities to explore this.

The organisation said a range of factors, including unconscious bias and language barriers, were preventing people from being able to get the medical help they needed.

Lisa Jeronimo lives and works as a carer in Bridgwater, Somerset and is originally from East Timor.

She said she often supported other people from East Timor when they were accessing medical help in the UK.

'Never been registered'

"With a diagnosis, language is really a barrier.

"Sometimes they [healthcare settings] use an Indonesian interpreter, but some older generations of East Timor people don't speak the Indonesian language," Ms Jeronimo said.

Somerset Diverse Communities said it wanted to hear about the experiences of British people from other minority communities, as well as migrants to the UK.

It is carrying out the survey for Somerset County Council which said they welcomed the findings so far.

Staff from Somerset Diverse Communities have been attending multicultural events to gather data

Michał Pużyński from Somerset Diverse Communities said he had encountered people, particularly men, who had lived and worked in the county for as long as 10 years without accessing health services.

"Many of them, they are just too proud to admit that they can't communicate properly so they've never been registered with a GP, they've tried to treat themselves at home," he said.

Mr Pużyński said he also thought it could be difficult for people to explain the details of their symptoms using medical terminology, even if they were able to speak English.

"The language that is required, very often it's much more sophisticated.

"On a daily basis, if you're working in a local warehouse or factory, you're relying on basic English," he said.

'Fumbling' interpretation service

Kirsten Rushby from Somerset Diverse Communities said people arriving in the county should be given immediate help.

"It's really important that we provide a clear message and information about how our healthcare system works here, what you can expect.

"Also, our interpretation services need to be a little bit more robust," she said.

The charity said it knew of a Ukrainian guest who said the interpretation service was at best "fumbling" and it was aware of other cases where the wrong language was provided.

To get around the need for friends or family members being required to translate in potentially dangerous domestic abuse situations, the charity said it had suggested the NHS should provide interpreters for annual GP check-up appointments that patients could attend on their own.

The survey is ongoing.