University Hospital Birmingham NHS Case Study

How Word360 helped

With 30 years’ experience in supporting the NHS, Word360 is now the largest provider of interpreting and translation services across the Midlands.

As UHB wanted our new services to transition within weeks, our local professional interpreter network was critical in mobilising services quickly and effectively. 

Word360 became the sole provider of a fully managed service for UHB, under which agreement we provide: 

• Face-to-face interpreting
• Telephone interpreting (on-demand and pre-booked)
• Video interpreting (on-demand and pre-brooked)
• Non-spoken communication (BSL)
• Document translation and transcription
• Ancillary services such as Braille, large print and Moon 

With a dedicated contract manager and comprehensive implementation plan, UHB received full coverage within two weeks, immediately allowing them to exceed all of their accessibility requirements.

UHB had full and immediate access to our roster of enhanced DBS-checked linguists through Wordskii, with experience working in NHS and other healthcare settings. 

The Trust was keen to encourage digital alternatives to face-to-face interpreting. Our long-term plan included a comprehensive strategy to educate staff to make ‘informed choices’ on the best mode of interpreting to use for their appointments, either telephone, video or in person.  

Word360 became a familiar, flexible and reliable service provider for UHB, and made use of our extensive expertise in the healthcare sector to provide a high quality of service. 

We facilitate approximately 2,500 bookings every month in as many as 104 different languages across 4 different sites and throughout wider community services.