The push towards telehealth services during the coronavirus pandemic has created new challenges for Australians who speak English as a second language.
More than 1.8 million Australians have used telehealth services in the past fortnight as the federal government urges people to stay in their homes due to the outbreak of coronavirus.
Dr Qudsia Hasnani is a GP who speaks Hindi, Urdu and some Russian. She said community GPs who usually offer multi-lingual services are still able to do so via telehealth. But if this service is not available, accessing translation services via telehealth can be difficult, so the task of translation often falls to family members.
"For some elderly members of the local Indian community talking on the phone with a GP has not been an easy experience," Mr Abbott said. "A large number of the doctors in our area are of Indian or Pakistani background so there has been always been other options if there are any major language barriers.”
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