Job summary
- Main area
- Patient Experience
- Grade
- 4
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 284-26-7864654-COAB
- Employer
- Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- External
- Town
- Birmingham
- Salary
- £27,485 - £30,162 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 23/04/2026 23:59
- Interview date
- 06/05/2026
Employer heading
Arabic/Urdu/Mirpuri Interpreter/Link Worker
4
Flexible working:
Flexible working arrangements may be considered and discussions with the recruiting manager regarding this are encouraged.
Job overview
Post 1
Arabic Link Worker
Post 2
Urdu/Mirpuri/Punjabi
The Interpreting and Cultural Insight Link Worker will focus on providing high quality language and cultural support in all areas of the BWC Trust, including our specialist Children’s Hospital, Birmingham Women’s hospital and Forward-Thinking Birmingham – one of the largest child and mental health services in the country. Familiar with an NHS setting, the post-holder will use their significant knowledge and experience to move from different medical subject matters throughout the day.
The post-holder will work with all departments within the Trust, building key relationships with staff to ensure patients and families requiring an Interpreter have equal access to our services and Information. The Interpreter will be confident working with sensitive and complex information and will have the skills and experience to know when to escalate concerns and how to access further support.
The post-holder will have knowledge and an advanced interest in Cultural Insight and the skills needed to recognise where staff, patients and families need support with bridging communication and Cultural awareness gaps. Working with staff to inform and advise on Cultural considerations and demonstrating an advanced awareness of when further support is needed to facilitate clear communication.
Main duties of the job
The post-holder will be part of the Interpreting and Cultural Insight Team. Working across all sites at BWC, in all specialties and divisions to provide a high standard of Language and Cultural Support.
The post-holder will follow patients and their families throughout their pathway and provide high quality and effective communication with staff.
The post-holder will work within the Trust’s health inequalities strategy to identify non-English speaking and limited English speaking patients and families who have complex needs and are not aware of services and support available to them.
The Patient Experience Team provides services across Birmingham Women’s Hospital, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Forward Thinking Birmingham. The post holder will be expected to work flexibly across all sites according to demand.
The post-holder will also be expected to access a variety of platforms to facilitate virtual interpreting sessions, including AccuRx, Zoom, MS Teams, Three way calls and any other virtual platform in order to provide language support.
Please write down clearly in the application form the languages you can speak on the additional part/other information section
Working for our organisation
Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust is the first of its type in the UK. Our Trust was formed in February 2017 to drive forward our commitment to provide the highest quality, world-class physical and mental health care for our women, children and families. Uniting our hospitals means more seamless care; more investment to make greater advances in our specialist treatment and world-leading neo-natal and fetal work. Importantly, it also gives us a greater voice in shaping the future of family-centred care.
Birmingham Children's Hospital is a UK leading specialist paediatric centre with an international reputation in several areas.
Birmingham Women's Hospital is one of two dedicated women's hospitals in the UK, with the busiest single site maternity unit, delivering more than 8,200 babies a year offering a full range of gynaecological, maternity and neonatal care.
Our Trust is committed to creating the best place to work. We believe in promoting and enhancing inclusion, diversity and equality and encourage applications from all areas of the community, who meet the criteria for the role, regardless of age, gender identity, disability, race, religion or sexual orientation.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please refer to the attached job description and person specification to view the full details for this opportunity at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.
When completing your application, please ensure you have evidenced how you meet the job description and person specification to include transferable experience, qualifications, skills along with professional registration details (if applicable).
Occasionally we receive a large number of applications for our roles and when that happens we sometimes bring the closing date forward, so please apply promptly to avoid disappointment.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Educated to GCSE standard minimum Maths & English grade C or equivalent
- NVQ 3 in Health Care or equivalent
- Recognised Interpreting qualification (or be working towards)
Desirable criteria
- Recognised language qualification at NVQ level 4 or equivalent
Knowledge & Nature of Experience
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of Safeguarding policies and procedures
- Previous experience of working in the NHS or medical Interpreting for at least 3 years
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team
- Ability to make judgements due to changing situations in interpreting and to seek appropriate support for the patient
- Evidence of working with vulnerable patients requiring specialist support by being able to assess their communication needs.
- Experience of providing support to women with ethnic minority backgrounds aligned to their social & cultural needs
- Ability to explain to patients how and why Healthy lifestyle/behavioural change experience is important to their care pathway
- Knowledge of patient administration system, outpatient’s clinics system, ward admission procedures, Datix and case notes procedures.
- Ability to work flexibly to meet the needs of the service
Analytical and Judgement Skills
Essential criteria
- Confident to escalate any concerns at the time and after an Interpreting session and to follow up that these concerns have been responded to.
- Knowledge and understanding of Data protection and confidentiality policies when dealing with complex appointments with multiple professionals and family members.
- Analysing situations requiring interpreting to use skill and judgement in determining priorities when there are competing demands for interpreting input
- Ability to judge a patients communication need through assessing dialect spoken and literacy level including reading ability. Ability to modify communication appropriately.
- Determine and judge where risks are evident and perform risk assessment of client’s emotional state to ensure referral to appropriate services during their hospital stay e.g. chaplaincy, safeguarding
Professional/Managerial/Specialist Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Able to maintain accurate records
- Ability to understand patient medical conditions and test results to communicate these with the patients and to ascertain their understanding in a sensitive and professional manner
- Proven ability to use Microsoft packages such as Excel, Word and Outlook
- Experience of data entry and maintaining accurate records
- Confident in using MS Teams, Zoom, accuRx, Teleconference and 3-way calls
- Evidence of continuing personal development
- Reliable, punctual, and flexible across hours of work when required
- Self-awareness in terms of assessing own knowledge and competence and understanding own boundaries
- Self-awareness in terms of recognising the impact of their behaviour on others.
- The post-holder will support with supervising and mentoring new interpreters to the in-house bank team, including carrying out language test and supporting with training & induction
- Ability to understand where specialist knowledge needs to be applied from trust procedures and policies relating to patient care e.g. hospice, mortuary, theatres, PICU
- Understand and meet the needs of patients, families and relatives including their communication needs in relation to support of the patient and clinical pathways
- Able to present a professional image appropriate to the working environment
- Committed, enthusiastic and innovative
- Ability to cope with stress
- Team worker
- Ability to work flexibly to meet the needs of the service
- Excellent verbal communication skills
- Ability to remain calm and professional under pressure and to relay sensitive, difficult and distressing news to patients and their families
- Ability to prioritise and manage own tasks and workload
- Strong ability to work as part of a team and forge relationships at all levels within the Trust
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Application numbers
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Fatema Sheeren
- Job title
- Interpreting & Cultural Insight Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07753431220
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