Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District

Winner: Excellence in Multicultural Healthcare​ Award

​The Virtual Health Interpreters Service project at Nepean Women’s and Children’s Outpatients introduced video interpreting to improve patient care. This service enabled easier access to interpreters, reducing costs and travel expenses, while also supporting better health outcomes for multicultural communities.

Patients, families, clinicians, and administrative staff were all involved in the project. Patients and clinicians reported equivalent to or higher than satisfaction with video interpreting compared to traditional methods such as telephone and face to face interpreting.

The Virtual Interpreters service has shown a 194% increase in interpreter use between 2019 and 2023. While interpreter use increased, the overall cost per service has decreased by 48% over this same time period.

This pilot highlights the value of effective project management, staff training, and clear documentation for sustainable implementation. It shows that virtual care and the timely access to interpreters can significantly improve healthcare, especially for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) patients.

This project provided increased interpreter accessibility for CALD patients, enabling them to participate confidently in their healthcare planning and outcomes and make well informed decisions. Clinicians were confident that their patients understood the health information and were actively involved in planning their own care outcomes.​​