The video interpreting service is a joint initiative of Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District’s Multicultural Health and Virtual Care teams and the University of Sydney’s Visual Telehealth Lab.
It improves access to healthcare for patients, families and carers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and the deaf community while reducing travel emissions.
Our transition to this sustainable, accessible and cost-effective initiative successfully gained funding from the NSW Health Sustainable Futures Innovation Fund.
The Women and Children’s Health Outpatients Department have benefited from the funding, which enabled the purchase of virtual care equipment and the allocation of a Virtual Care Project Officer to support implementation.
Women and Children’s Health patient surveys have revealed increased patient satisfaction with outpatient consultations following the use of video interpreting. Patients reported that the video interpreting “felt like the interpreter was in the room”. Patients also said that being able to see the interpreter’s facial expressions increased their comfort and enhanced confidence that their communications were being understood.
All patients surveyed said they preferred a video interpreter over a telephone interpreter.