St James's Hospital seeking tech solution after hiring interpreters 9,382 times last year
Darragh Mc Donagh
One of the country’s largest hospitals is considering the use of technology to communicate with patients who don’t speak English after it had to hire interpreters 9,382 times last year.
St. James’s Hospital in Dublin is currently exploring technological solutions to issues that arise when patients have “little or no English”, and is currently seeking quotations from suitably qualified IT companies.
The “vast majority” of the 9,382 interpretation assignments in 2025 required a translator to attend the hospital in person, and most of the assignments were concluded in less than an hour, according to procurement documents.
Ukrainian was the most common language for which interpreters were required, accounting for 1,852 or nearly 20 per cent of the assignments last year.
This was followed by Russian, which was required 1,564 times (16.7 per cent).
Interpretation services were needed for patients who spoke Romanian 1,456 times, and 1,033 times for patients who spoke Portuguese. Translators were required for Polish patients on 690 occasions.
Earlier this year, a research paper found that Tallaght University Hospital had engaged the services of interpreters for patients who did not speak English almost 11,000 times over a period of 17 months.
They were required to provide translation services in 64 different languages, the most common of which was Ukrainian, which accounted for almost 29% of bookings, followed by Russian, Polish, and Romanian.
Procurement documents published by St. James’s Hospital specify that user-friendliness, quality of translation in a medical context, and GDPR compliance would be essential requirements under the new arrangements.
The hospital said frontline staff require immediate access to a technological solution when they have an urgent need to make themselves understood to patients with inadequate English.
The IT solution would also be used during short appointments when patients are required to answer quick questions about their medical histories.
St. James’s is the largest acute general hospital in Ireland, and is located on a 60-acre site south of the Liffey.
It has around 1,030 inpatient beds with 5,652 staff. Almost 700 of these are acute beds, while 245 are psychiatric, and 87 are long-stay beds.
In 2024, around 60,000 people were seen in the hospital’s emergency department, and 362,115 people attended for outpatient appointments. It recorded around 90,000 day-case admissions, and 24,450 inpatient discharges, according to data provided in the procurement documents.
Prospective service providers have until July 22 to submit quotations for the IT interpretation solution, and a contract will subsequently be awarded, taking account of cost and functionality.
