Menu Home Search
01622 851197 Contact us

Kent & Medway Interpretation and Translation Services

With effect from 1st April 2022

During the spring of 2018, NHS England delegated the responsibility for Interpreting and Translation services to CCGs. Since then, the CCGs have been using the contract framework previously used by NHS England.

The CCG is seeking to harmonise all the interpreting and translation provision across Kent and Medway so all Practices have access to all the same providers. The Interpreting and Translation service provided by the CCG is for the delivery of services related solely to the GMS contract, including delivery of services provided under LES and DES arrangements.

Telephone Interpreting: No prior approval required

  • Telephone interpreting will be the method of choice where practices will have access to more language sub-dialects.
  • Interpreters can be pre-booked or accessed at very short or immediate notice.
  • Attached is a service provider contact sheet which contains details for The Big Word and Medway CIS on how to use their telephone interpreting services.
  • For The Big Word and Medway CIS, each Practice will have its’ own unique access code which covers all branch and affiliated sites unless indicated otherwise. If you do not know your codes, please contact Kmccg.primarycare@nhs.net marked Access Codes Required.

Non-verbal Interpreting (e.g. BSL): No prior approval required

  • No Change – Provision will continue to be from Royal Association for Deaf people (RAD), The Big Word or Medway CIS
  • Contact and booking details for BSL with RAD, The Big Word and Medway CIS are attached.
  • New! Video BSL is now available from both The Big Word and RAD. Please speak to the provider when booking
  • For clarity, prior booking approval is not required for any BSL appointments

Face to Face (F2F) Interpreting: Prior approval required

  • F2F interpreting will no longer be supported unless approval for each booking is sought and received from the primary care team, prior to booking.
  • Approval will only be given where it is demonstrated that telephone interpreting is not appropriate e.g. new patient appointments for migrants, or patients with learning disabilities, for example.
  • Any interpreter timesheets should be checked carefully by Practice staff to ensure that the correct times have been entered by the Interpreter and only signed off once the correct details have been agreed.
  • All F2F requests should be sent to Kmccg.primarycare@nhs.net and marked ‘F2F Interpreting Request’
  • The form for F2F requests is attached.

Translation (for written transcripts): Prior approval required

  • Any translation requests should be sent to Kmccg.primarycare@nhs.net and marked ‘Translation Request’
  • The form for Translation requests is attached
  • Patient data/information should not be included

The responsibility for booking any interpreter remains the responsibility of the Practice.

We thank you for your co-operation but if you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us at kmccg.primarycare@nhs.net

Kind regards
Yours sincerely

Bill Millar
Director of Primary Care
NHS Kent and Medway CCG

Updated on Monday, 28 March 2022, 3459 views

Related guidance...

Kent LMC Weekly Update: 6th March 2023

Welcome to this week's edition of the LMC Express. The local updates for this week include: General Practice Appointment Data for Kent...

Managing Workload

Advice for GPs for requests to prescribe sedative prior to dental procedures Proforma Rejection Template letter - August 2022 We have...

Practice Staff

Talking Wellness COVID-19 pressures on the wider NHS brought national recognition that the mental health and wellbeing of health and...

Useful Links

The GP International Induction and Return to Practice Programmes (2021) Whether you have NHS experience or not, the NHS GP...

Digital Staff Bank

Kent & Medway ICS has chosen Lantum as a partner to create a system-wide, multidisciplinary staff bank. The digital staff bank will...

Managing Workload LMC Advice: School Certificates (July 2017)

School Medical Certificates The NHS service does not provide any payment for Occupational Health Service for patients and that means...

List Management: LMC In Touch Extract 2015

Many practices are struggling to cope with the escalating workload demands and are constrained by premises and or difficulty recruiting....

Covid: Allergy/Anaphylaxis Pathway - October 2022

Patients requesting Nuvaxovid based on previous referral into allergy pathway If your patient has already been seen by an allergy...

Welcome to the New Kent LMC Website

We are delighted to launch our new and improved Kent LMC website, where you will find: Blog, News and Twitter Feeds Kent LMC has...

Advice for GPs for requests to prescribe sedative prior to dental procedures

Dentists should not direct patients to GPs requesting they prescribes sedating medications, such as diazepam. If a dentist wishes to...