The growth of the European Union has meant that travel between many European countries is very easy. Migration into the United Kingdom has increased greatly, and with this the need for people who speak these languages has grown greatly. Specific industries, such as the medical industry, have also meant that there is a greater need for specialist translation services.
The one of the main areas in which language can affect the medical industry is in patient diagnostics. Although most patients would be able to tell you if they have any prior medical conditions, these would often be in their native language. For doctors to correctly treat patients they would need to know all prior conditions and medications that are being taken. The NHS relies on fast and efficient diagnosis of any conditions to deal with patients, often who don't completely understand what is happening to them. Interpreters can provide a good method of finding out what is wrong with patients in busy hospitals, and reassure them of the treatment they are receiving.
Another area in medicine that is affected by the language barrier is the publication of papers about medical research. Although most are published in English, there are papers still published in native languages. These papers are often of interest to people around the world, and require translation either into English, or from the English publication into another language.
Accuracy is one of the most important things in the medical industry. This could be the measuring of quantities of a certain drug in a pharmacy, understanding a patients prior medical issues to correctly diagnose their current problem or even reading a paper on some new medical research and understanding correctly the implications. This means that translation and interpretation should be carried out with the utmost accuracy.
One of the U K's closest neighbouring countries is Germany. With over 35000 people applying for asylum to the UK in 2005, having staff that speak German is a definite benefit to any company or NHS department. However, as many people know basic German taught in schools, they do not take it to a higher level. This means that you can often need a specialist in
medical german translation.
Although there are many German translation specialists available, most companies cannot provide someone with experience in a specific industry.