What we have to say Reports and surveys Understanding health experiences of patients who speak English as an additional language This report contains feedback from focus groups we ran across six language backgrounds – Arabic, Bengali, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian and Urdu – and research on those who speak English as an additional language, highlighting the numerous barriers to care that they face. With funding from GSK and Novartis, we translated two of our factsheets: Knowing your rights and accessing support as a patient and Getting the most out of your appointments into five of these languages. Following feedback from Punjabi-speaking participants, we opted against producing written translated guides and instead added Punjabi audio to two animations. >Download the report >View the translated resources Summary of evidence review and focus group findings These were the overriding themes across the six languages. Additionally, each language faced unique barriers, which are also set out in the report. A need for quality and personalisation in translations Reliance on community members as informal interpreters Medical jargon as a barrier even with interpretation Language barriers for older patients Lack of awareness of available support and entitlements Consequences of miscommunication for patient safety Conclusion This project set out to do something practical: to translate two patient information resources into six languages, and in doing so, to better understand the experiences of patients who speak English as an additional language in the UK. What we heard went further than we anticipated. Across six focus groups, patients told us about a system that too often places the burden of communication on patients and their communities rather than taking responsibility for it itself. They told us about family members stepping in to fill gaps that trained professionals should be filling. About miscommunication that led to incorrect consent, delayed diagnoses and medication errors. About saying "yes, I understand" when they did not. >Download the report >View the translated resources Next steps This report is part of our broader commitment, set out in our strategy for 2026 to 2030, to expand how we engage with diverse patient communities and ensure that the evidence we build reflects the full range of patient experience - not just those who have the power and agency to be heard. The communities we spoke to for this project are among those most likely to experience health inequalities. They deserved to be heard, and we are grateful to everyone who shared their experiences with us. We will use what we heard to inform our policy and campaigning work. We hope the resources produced through this project translated into Arabic, Bengali, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian and Urdu are useful, and shared widely through networks, and among friends and families. But they are a starting point, not a solution. Patients who speak English as an additional language deserve a system that meets them where they are. That is what we will continue to push for. Manage Cookie Preferences