Overview
Located in Wolverhampton, Bilston and Birmingham as part of Black Country ICB, Health & Beyond implemented multilingual support in Surgery Assist across four sites to improve access for non-English speaking patients.
“Our communities are incredibly diverse, and multilingual support in the digital assistant is a big step toward making our services more inclusive and accessible for all our patients.”
Chakri, Digital Transformation Lead
Challenges and goals
Health & Beyond serves highly diverse communities, with many patients speaking languages other than English. Existing translation support relies on ad hoc tools or in-person interpreters, which prevents a smooth access journey, takes up staff time and is becoming hard to sustain due to funding cuts.
To introduce a simple, easy-to-use solution that allows patients to use their own language to understand their options and access appropriate services, particularly for those less comfortable talking on the phone. This should mean less in-person visits to the practice and reduced reliance on manual translation support.
Early insights and implementation
Via the Surgery Assist digital assistant, the Multilingual Support feature was enabled by replacing the existing iframe with an inline code, allowing the digital assistant to work with browser-based translation settings. This was implemented across all four practice websites.
While it’s still early, the feature is expected to play an important role in supporting diverse patient groups as translation resources become more constrained.
Initial results and impact
Supporting translation in over 100 languages, Multilingual Support introduces a new, accessible route for non-English speaking patients through the digital assistant. This helps reduce the need for in-person visits when accessing general information or services.
The ability for patients to engage with the digital assistant in their own language supports more inclusive access and helps guide patients to appropriate services, such as pharmacy, without needing a GP appointment—reducing avoidable demand on staff and clinicians.
Looking ahead
Health & Beyond sees Multilingual Support as a key step towards more inclusive access across its sites. Future enhancements could include allowing patients to submit Online Consultation requests in their own language.
This pilot highlights how small changes to digital access can make services more inclusive, helping patients get the support they need in a way that works for them.