UK Couple: No Hospital Terp

A deaf couple in the UK say hospitals have not provided them with an interpreter on 5 occasions in the last couple of years. Paul and Samantha Voisin use BSL (British Sign Language). Their son has had health issues since his birth 5 years ago and say hospital personnel asked her daughter, age, six, to interpret earlier this year. But an administrator at the East and North Hertfordshire Trust, located north of London in the town of Stevenage, says the facility has never refused to provide an interpreter. In fact, she says the Voisins were provided interpreters 60 times in the last three years, at a cost of 8000 pounds. The only time there is a problem, the hospital says, is when the couple arrives in an emergency situation and not by appointment, when interpreters can be scheduled ahead of time.