Critically explore the legal and etihical context of delivering Essay

Critically explore the legal and etihical context of delivering healthcare to patients who do not speak English and issues around informed consent- look at the - Essay Example condition is with the care that can be provided and will thus have the option to freely consent to, or refuse treatment on the basis of complete information. The language barrier can be a significant detrimental factor for patients because it can decrease access to and adequacy of health care due to the inability to communicate symptoms effectively, especially when they are brought into the emergency department and the use of language interpreters can significantly reduce the obstacles that are created through the inability of provider-patient to communicate effectively (Woloshin et al 1995:724-28). A study conducted by Hampers et al (1999) in the United States specifically examined the barriers cast by language and the inability of patients and their families to speak English when receiving health care in the emergency department, in order to determine whether there was any difference in diagnostic testing and length of stay. As a result, the practitioners were required to assess health care and make clinical diagnoses without the facility of a full or complete history due to the language barrier between health providers and patients. M oreover, this study showed that such patients were also less likely to be insured when they arrived for emergency services and the hampering of diagnostic and testing resulted in higher costs per patient and longer lengths of stay in the emergency departments. Similarly, a research report was prepared by Shah and Priestley (2001) which examined the experiences of black and minority disabled patients in Leeds hospitals. This report highlighted some of the specific concerns of Asian and black disabled patients and the obstructions to their health care that resulted from the lack of sensitivity of health care providers to language, religious and cultural issues. This report also showed that most minority patients who were older did not know English and the function of interpretation when they arrived at the hospital was carried out