At a time when NHS Scotland is in crisis, with staff shortages, ever lengthening waiting times and financial problems, the money spent on interpreters in Scotland has risen by 20%.
A ridiculous £7.4 million was spent on translators between 2016 and 2020 - money that could have been spent on more nurses and doctors that the service direly needs. Across the UK in the 2019/20 over £57 million was spent on foreign language translators.
NHS Glasgow and Clyde alone spent £3.6 million in 2019/20 on translators. This will only rise as immigrants are flooding into Scotland and the main political parties intend to increase this even more. It also reflects the failure of the idea of multiculturalism, where Immigrants are encouraged to come and told they have no need to integrate or learn the language but are allowed to carry on as if they were still living in Somalia, Pakistan or Nigeria.
The NHS is going to see an increasing drain on its resources from this source and it must be addressed.
