The NHS has earmarked up to £73million for translator contracts to assist patients who do not speak English.
The framework agreement, which began in November 2025 and runs until November 2027, has been awarded to a number of pre-approved firms that NHS trusts can use for interpretation services, The Sun has revealed.
NHS Shared Business Services, which oversees the contracts, stressed that the £73million represents a maximum cap across all participating trusts, with actual spending expected to be much lower.
Video translation services are available via both pre-booked appointments and on-demand access.
The NHS has earmarked up to £73million for translator contracts
| GETTYThe contract also covers written materials, including manuals, handbooks, leaflets, and website content.
Deaf patients are included in the framework, with British Sign Language interpreters among the approved services.
However, being on the approved supplier list does not guarantee firms will be awarded work by NHS organisations.
Spending on translation and interpretation across NHS trusts and integrated care boards has soared in recent years
Spending on translation and interpretation across NHS trusts has soared in recent years (file photo)
|GETTY
Freedom of Information data shows costs rose from £31million in 2020/21 to £64million in 2024/25 - more than doubling in five years.
Census data revealed over one million British residents cannot speak English well or at all.
The figures highlight why large sums are now being directed toward language services as demand grows alongside shifting population demographics.
Critics have used the statistics to highlight what they see as hidden costs of immigration.
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Chris Philp said that 'every foreign national living in this country should be able to speak English'
| PAWilliam Yarwood, media campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, told The Sun the health service is "buckling under the strain of policy failure", adding that "mass migration is piling hidden costs onto already stretched services".
He added: “The government should get serious about reducing these pressures by tightening migration rules and ensuring new arrivals are properly prepared to live and work here and speak English.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told the newspaper: “Every foreign national living in this country should be able to speak English.
“It is shocking that the most recent census revealed that a million of our fellow citizens do not speak English at all or properly.
“If a foreign national in this country cannot speak English, they must learn the language or leave.
“We should not be spending a single penny of taxpayer money on foreign language translation in the NHS.”
An NHS spokesman said: “Translation and interpretation services are a legal requirement and essential to delivering effective and safe patient care, and it is right that the NHS offers these.”
In September, it was revealed that NHS translation and interpretation services are costing British taxpayers more than £133,000 a day.
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