Estonia lacks healthcare interpreters, putting patients at risk

Patients who cannot understand their doctors may face unsafe care, while Estonia has no systematic healthcare interpreting service, Tallinn University junior researcher Katerina Maadla writes in a commentary published by ERR for International Translation Day on September 30.

Doctors and other medical staff often interpret alongside their regular work, without pay. Maadla says research does not support fears that providing interpreters reduces immigrants’ motivation to learn Estonian. The desire to learn a language depends chiefly on social, economic and cultural factors.

Patients struggle to communicate

Maadla’s recent study found that learning Estonian is important to newcomers, but many still need language assistance or care in a widely used language such as English or Russian. Without systematic interpreting, foreign-language patients may turn to private clinics or stop treatment.

In the study, 48 percent of respondents said it was difficult to find a family doctor with whom they could communicate in a shared language. Another 45 percent had used help from an acquaintance or machine translation, and nearly three-quarters had used private healthcare services, often because of communication barriers.

Maadla says patients’ safety and treatment outcomes can suffer when they do not understand medical instructions or the implications of a life-saving operation. She describes understandable healthcare as a human right and says language barriers in Estonia’s health system are not systematically recorded: for example, the language used during appointments and the share of visits involving foreign languages are not tracked.

She also notes that language minorities can be especially vulnerable during health crises, as important information may not reach every group. International reviews cited in the article say professional language assistance improves treatment outcomes, reduces medical errors and increases trust in the healthcare system.