Push for new Medicare item to fund translators in general practice
There is currently no incentive for doctors to use interpreter services during consults, Dr Mariam Tokhi says
A GP is calling for Medicare items to fund the use of translators in consults with patients from non-English-speaking backgrounds.
Dr Mariam Tokhi says that, although doctors can use the national Translating and Interpreting Service for free, many won’t call it because they are not compensated via the MBS for the extra time it takes.
The service provides real-time translations over the phone in over 160 languages and typically takes less than five minutes to connect a GP with an appropriate interpreter.
“The problem is that consultations take longer with an interpreter service — everything is said twice, so it takes double the time,” says Dr Tokhi, a GP in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
