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Testimonials

Despite the complexity of our latest subtitling project, which had to be transcribed, translated and subtitled in both Arabic and French, OSW successfully managed to provide us with high-quality subtitled videos. They were always strongly committed and went the extra mile to meet our standards and deadlines. Mike Todd, Director, Digital Training Solutions

I would highly recommend using OSW for any type of translation. They are the only agency that has been able to turn work round quickly enough to meet my deadlines. We often use them to translate complex legal documents and they have never let us down. I have been able to develop a great working relationship with the staff and they truly understand my needs - they are all very helpful and always go the extra mile to accommodate me. Jacky Cragg, Granada Factuals

We have worked with OSW for years. We are delighted with the quality of the translation service, the speed of response and the competitive price. Mark Sacco Corporate Affairs Manager Newcastle College

OSW are professional, efficient and very user friendly! They recently met our requirements for a female Farsi speaker to be available on 24 hours notice to assist in three interviews. Where would we be without them! Barbara Smith, JWP Solicitors (Client since 2006)

OSW has supplied Town Talk Polish with high quality translations for our multi-lingual leaflets since 2001. We have been very impressed with the speed of service and the competitive prices and shall continue to use OSW for all our future translation needs. Vince Ball, Town Talk Polish

OSW has helped Chevin Housing Association by providing us with translation services in a drive to make our literature accessible to all of our Customers. OSW has been helpful, reliable and thoroughly professional at all times when dealing with our varied requests. OSW’s flexible approach has also meant that we have managed to save thousands of pounds on translation costs. Prices quoted by other similar organisations were much more expensive. D Colclough, Chevin Housing Association

We were very pleased with the professionalism of OSW during the production of a CD which had 20 different translations within it. In particular, OSW were able to suggest the best ways that the work could be done and were always available when we needed to discuss the project. Phil Williams, Careers Europe

As a contracted supplier to the Healthcare Commission, OSW provides translations for promotional information for the Commission, as well as for more sensitive issues such as confidential queries and complaints. In all projects OSW has maintained a high level of discretion and professionalism, assisting us in our aim to improve communications with our service users. Abi Meredith, The Healthcare Commission

Medical interpreting

Medical interpreting is probably the most underestimated interpreting field of all. A good treatment depends on a good communication between the patient, the doctor and the medical staff. What happens if the diagnosis isn’t the right, due to communication problems during the anamnesis?

The communication between specialists and laypersons can already turn out to be problematic if they speak the same language. The specialist, for example, always has to keep in mind that he can’t use the same terms talking to his patient as he would use for hospital internal communication (that’s how a haematoma becomes a bruise etc.) When it comes to communication between medical staff and patients with different mother tongues and with another cultural background, it’s getting even more complicated.

Unfortunately, medical facilities often use non-professionals for interpreting. This is, on the one hand, due to practical reasons – bilingual medical staff, cleaning personnel or even family members of the patient are available at short term and much cheaper than a professional interpreter – and on the other hand caused by a general underestimating of the importance of an accurate interpretation performed by a professional interpreter.

A medical interpreter should:

be aware of particularities of medical interpreting, such as cultural specifics, medical terminology, social hierarchy, etc…
be able to apply different interpretation techniques like consecutive interpreting, whisper interpreting, etc…
easily switch between different language registers (medical, colloquial, ..) and, if necessary, explain complicate terms to the client,
be aware of the difficult emotional situation of the clients, keeping the necessary emotional distance but at the same time providing a support for the patient.

It’s obvious that this service can only be provided by a professional medical interpreter, and that interpretation done by medical staff, cleaning personal or family members can lead to a lot of misunderstandings no one is aware of, which in the worst case might have serious consequences for the patient.