Case Studies

The following case studies are taken from real life situations, and demonstrate why it is important to use a qualified interpreter...

An elderly male patient, a visitor from Russia, was hospitalised because of a heart problem. He was pronounced by the ward staff as being demented after he spent a week in hospital. Finally an interpreter was called for a Dementia Assessment.

The assessment revealed perfectly normal memory and concentration. The patient did not communicate with the ward staff as he did not speak a word of English.

A patient's son came to the Interpreters' Base asking for the Polish interpreter to go to a hospital ward to help his mother. The patient, a middle aged woman was waiting for a kidney operation. She was extremely anxious and explained that she asked for the interpreter, but as the surgeon spoke a little German, and she spoke a little German, he told her there was no need for an interpreter.

She had a kidney stone, and understood that her kidney was going to be removed. She could not sleep at night worrying what would happen when she develops a stone in the other kidney, or some other trouble occurs.

The attending nurse called an intern, who explained that the stone was in the urethra, and only required an incision near the urethra to remove the stone.

A doctor was taking the medical history of an elderly Greek patient in a hospital, with the help of an interpreter. He was asked whether he had any operations. "Hernia, and that" (he pointed towards his shoulder blade).

The doctor saw a long scar going down the patient's back, and asked him what the operation was for. The man did not know, "the doctor told me I needed it, so I had it". The doctor found out where the operation was done, called the hospital and was told the patient had a lung removed two years earlier.

The patient had lung cancer and needed to have his lung removed. He was unaware of the cancer, and continued to smoke.

A Croatian interpreter was called to interpret for an elderly woman who had undergone a hip replacement operation. As she had immigrated to Australia as an elderly woman, she could only speak a few words of English. All investigation, consent and post-operative instructions had been done without the use of an interpreter, but as she was irate and abusive, an interpreter was finally called.

She had been told to get up and walk after the operation, but her leg was still very sore and she found it impossible to bear any weight on it. Unable to explain this and being pushed to get up and walk, she became very angry.

After this became clear, she was given one more day of rest and an explanation why it was important to mobilise the leg as soon as possible. She became more co-operative, worked extremely hard (she was over 80 years old) and surprised everyone at the rate of her recovery.

A Macedonian patient who was referred to a hospital psychiatrist was assessed with the assistance of an interpreter. She was under the care of a private psychiatrist and on antipsychotic drugs, as she had been for 25 years.

After the interview the doctor diagnosed the woman with severe depression, caused by continuous family problems. Her depression was appropriate to the situation she was in and at no stage was she psychotic.

If the interpreter had not been present, she would probably still be on antipsychotic drugs. She now functions normally, without the drugs.

An Italian interpreter was called urgently to Accident and Emergency as a patient had threatened to sue the Hospital.

A male patient was suffering from cancer that had spread through his bones. He had tumors removed from his leg and was undergoing radiotherapy for pain control. His doctor had told him his bones were very brittle and if he had an accident, to have an x-ray to check for fractures. He used crutches and on the particular day had visited a hardware store where a number of paint cans fell on top of him. He was brought to the hospital by his brother to have an x-ray.

Both men had poor English but the interpreter was not called. Staff did not want to send him for an x-ray, saying it was not necessary. His brother became irate and so the staff sent them to x-ray. His brother was so upset that x-ray staff were told to see him first.

Overhearing this, an English speaking patient in the waiting room started abusing them. The brother retaliated and x-ray staff called security to remove the patient and his brother, as they were abusing other patients. Security came and (physically) removed them from the department. The brother shouted that he was going to sue the hospital.

An interpreter was called.

The patient and his brother were extremely upset by the fact that they could not make the staff understand that he really needed the x-ray. They felt angry and humiliated by the rough treatment. The triage nurse and other staff were told that the man was dying from cancer and that he had a really good reason to ask for an x-ray. They were very apologetic saying "we had no idea...".

The patient died soon after this incident.