Community Bilingual Health Advocacy Service
The bilingual health advocacy/interpretation service is for patients who do not speak English or are deaf and need support when they have a health appointment. The service provides interpretation, bilingual health advocacy, information and support to help people access and use health services.
The service provides support for patients accessing GP appointments, Homerton Community Health Services and other community providers of health services, such as dentists and optometrists.
For key information click here
Telephone interpreting is also available at all GP practices to help non-English speaking patients and health care professionals communicate.
Telephone interpreting is available 24/7 in all GP practices. The telephone interpreting service is provided by an external provider ‘The Language Shop’. Every GP practice has an access code that they will need to use when they call to use the service. Contact advocacy on the telephone number listed in the contact details section if you need to know your access code. For key information click here
Link to Homerton Healthcare Website: https://www.homerton.nhs.uk/bi-lingual-health-advocacy-and-translations/
Eligibility
Inclusion
- Patients (children and adults) with a communication difficulty
- Patients who do not speak English and require an interpreter to aid communicatopm and/ or an advocate to speak on their behalf
Exclusion
- Support accessing NHS hospital services or community based-services outside of City and Hackney
- Non NHS services such as housing and immigration
How to refer
Who can refer: GP, Nurse, Other, All community and primary care clinicians requiring communication support for a patient can make a request., Self-referral available
Telephone Interpretation by Newham Language Shop
You will need your practice's access code to access telephone interpretation- please contact the Bilingual Advocacy Service if you don't know your code
Document referral
Send by: email — <p>See downloads for the request form.</p>
Patients can use the service email address and phone number to access the service- see service contact details.