Breaking the language barrier: Interpreter service utilisation at Tallaght University Hospital

Effective communication is a cornerstone of equitable healthcare. In multilingual clinical settings, interpreter services play a critical role in ensuring accurate information exchange, patient autonomy, and culturally competent care. Tallaght University Hospital (TUH), is a model 4 hospital serving a diverse urban population, provides a valuable case study on the scale and structure of interpreter utilisation in the Irish healthcare landscape. The aim of this study was to describe the utilisation of interpretation services in an Irish model 4 teaching hospital. A retrospective analysis was conducted on TUH’s interpreter booking records between January 2024 and June 2025. Data included total bookings, unique patient counts, languages requested, and modality (face-to-face or remote). Figures were stratified by department, with specific attention to the Surgical and Orthopaedic services. A total of 10,793 interpreter bookings supported 3,397 patients across 64 languages. The majority of bookings were face-to-face interactions (79%) as opposed to remote telephone interpretations (21%). The most requested languages were Ukrainian (3,090 bookings), Russian (1,354 bookings), Polish (1277 bookings), and Romanian (1062) bookings. The Surgical Department accounted for 3,869 bookings (36% of total), serving 1,615 patients with the majority of bookings (3548, 91.7%) occurring in the outpatient setting. The Orthopaedics Department made 579 bookings (5.4% of total), supporting 338 patients, with with the majority of bookings (562, 97.06%) also occurring in the outpatient setting. Interpreter services are vital for patient safety, informed consent, and professional interactions in a diverse healthcare setting. High utilisation across TUH underscores the need for nationally standardised regulated interpreter services. These findings reinforce the argument for embedding interpretation in national policy and practice within Ireland’s broader inclusion health framework to address disparities experienced by marginalised linguistic communities.