AbstractsMedical & Health Science

Thesis (MPhil (Afrikaans and Dutch)) – University of Stellenbosch, 2010. ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Over the past decade many studies have shown that ad hoc interpreting services are still the norm for the health care sector in the South African context. The health care sector of South Africa, specifically in the Western Cape, is characterised by primarily Afrikaans- and English-speaking doctors, or medical practitioners in general, who do not understand Xhosaspeaking patients. In order to bridge this language gap, ad hoc interpreting services are employed, which are rendered by family members of a patient, nurses, or at times, even by porters or cleaners. As a result of the fact that these ad hoc interpreters lack training in interpreting theory and practice, they tend to distort communication, which impact negatively on the quality of the health care that the patient receives. This consequent lack of quality in health care can therefore directly be related to the quality of the interpreted utterances or product that the interpreter renders. Even though ad hoc interpreters are generally more used in the health care sector, some hospitals employ professionally trained interpreters to relieve the burden of a language barrier. In 1996, due to the erratic nature of health care interpreting services and language barriers between medical practitioners and patients, the National Language Project trained 22 community interpreters to be placed in hospitals within the boundaries of the Western Cape. Three of these interpreters were placed at Tygerberg Hospital, three at Groote Schuur Hospital, and three at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital. By 2008 none remained in Tygerberg Hospital, one was still employed by Groote Schuur Hospital, and two employed by Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital. In 2007, Groote Schuur Hospital identified a need to train and place interpreters within the hospital, due to the language barrier between medical practitioners and patients, as well as to optimise health care. These trainees were formerly employed by the hospital in positions such as cleaners. Even though they were then professionally trained, they were still remunerated as cleaners, for example. In addition to the two interpreters employed at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, another interpreter was employed on a full-time basis. Some departments within the hospital make use of their own interpreters, who are not employed by the hospital. Tygerberg Hospital has one officially employed interpreter who is a nursing assistant by profession, and who has received no training in interpreting whatsoever. The aim of this study was firstly to investigate interpreting practices within these three tertiary hospitals, and secondly to investigate the quality of the interpreted product delivered by the interpreters at these hospitals, whether on an ad hoc basis or as professionally trained interpreters. The outcomes of the quality of the interpreted product, measured against a quality table, were …