The trouble with bureaucracy.........

[michel]

before we were married, Marie and i used to attend court and help the police by offering to interpret for them when a Spanish or French speaker had been arrested.

We ceased doing the work some 20 years ago (mainly because of the children), because we were literally 'on call' 24 hours/day (We have both been called out in the middle of the night on various occasions).

When we considered that we felt happy to resume the interpreting, we were told that rules had changed, and to be eligible to be an interpreter, wewere required to have a Uni. degree in the language. Neither of us have, and we therefore could not be considered.

This item came up in the news Yesterday; I found myself furious at the thought that a bureaucratic rule meant that a killer had escaped arrest by the police.

What do you think ? ( I am still counting up to one thousand )


June 13, 2005

Hunt for ex-boyfriend after pregnant woman is killed
By Helen Nugent

AN INTERNATIONAL manhunt for a man suspected of battering a young pregnant woman to death was under way last night.

The body of Hayley Richards, a 22-year-old barmaid, was found in her home in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, after she failed to turn up for work and could not be contacted by her family. Yesterday police named Hugo Quintas, 23, the victim’s former boyfriend, as the man they want to question about her death.

NI_MPU('middle');Officers said that Mr Quintas left the country on Saturday and flew to Portugal, where he is believed to be in hiding.

Interpol and Portuguese law enforcement agencies have been called in to help to track him down.

Miss Richards complained to the police after she was attacked last week. However, Mr Quintas, who she alleged had carried out the assault, was not arrested. Paul Richards, the victim’s brother, said that the family had expected Mr Quintas to be arrested over that assault, but that had been delayed because of the need to obtain a Portuguese interpreter.

A statement issued on behalf of the family by Mr Richards said: “The family are in a deep state of shock; there are lots of questions that need to be asked and answered. I am led to believe that just over a week ago Hayley was attacked in her own home by her ex-boyfriend and we were informed that an arrest was imminent but that an interpreter would have to be present.

“A week later we find ourselves devastated with the loss of Hayley.”

Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Capstick confirmed that the Independent Police Complaints Commission had been called in to examine what action was taken after Miss Richards made her complaint.

During a news conference yesterday, police also read from a a statement made by Miss Richards’s family. It said: “Hayley was a beautiful young woman. She hurt no one and was loved by all. She was always there when required, no matter what was asked of her.” DCI Capstick said that tracing Mr Quintas was the principal line of inquiry for the team of 50 detectives. Officers were unable to say if Mr Quintas was the father of the unborn child. DCI Capstick added that Hayley was last seen by her family just before midnight on Friday.

 

[Melody]

When we considered that we felt happy to resume the interpreting, we were told that rules had changed, and to be eligible to be an interpreter, wewere required to have a Uni. degree in the language. Neither of us have, and we therefore could not be considered.

This item came up in the news Yesterday; I found myself furious at the thought that a bureaucratic rule meant that a killer had escaped arrest by the police.

What do you think ?

I think once again, society has discounted actual knowledge/experience over that stupid piece of paper. It's very sad it may be the cause of this young woman's death.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

before we were married, Marie and i used to attend court and help the police by offering to interpret for them when a Spanish or French speaker had been arrested.

We ceased doing the work some 20 years ago (mainly because of the children), because we were literally 'on call' 24 hours/day (We have both been called out in the middle of the night on various occasions).

When we considered that we felt happy to resume the interpreting, we were told that rules had changed, and to be eligible to be an interpreter, wewere required to have a Uni. degree in the language. Neither of us have, and we therefore could not be considered.

This item came up in the news Yesterday; I found myself furious at the thought that a bureaucratic rule meant that a killer had escaped arrest by the police.

What do you think ? ( I am still counting up to one thousand )


June 13, 2005

Hunt for ex-boyfriend after pregnant woman is killed
By Helen Nugent

AN INTERNATIONAL manhunt for a man suspected of battering a young pregnant woman to death was under way last night.

The body of Hayley Richards, a 22-year-old barmaid, was found in her home in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, after she failed to turn up for work and could not be contacted by her family. Yesterday police named Hugo Quintas, 23, the victim’s former boyfriend, as the man they want to question about her death.

NI_MPU('middle');Officers said that Mr Quintas left the country on Saturday and flew to Portugal, where he is believed to be in hiding.

Interpol and Portuguese law enforcement agencies have been called in to help to track him down.

Miss Richards complained to the police after she was attacked last week. However, Mr Quintas, who she alleged had carried out the assault, was not arrested. Paul Richards, the victim’s brother, said that the family had expected Mr Quintas to be arrested over that assault, but that had been delayed because of the need to obtain a Portuguese interpreter.

A statement issued on behalf of the family by Mr Richards said: “The family are in a deep state of shock; there are lots of questions that need to be asked and answered. I am led to believe that just over a week ago Hayley was attacked in her own home by her ex-boyfriend and we were informed that an arrest was imminent but that an interpreter would have to be present.

“A week later we find ourselves devastated with the loss of Hayley.”

Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Capstick confirmed that the Independent Police Complaints Commission had been called in to examine what action was taken after Miss Richards made her complaint.

During a news conference yesterday, police also read from a a statement made by Miss Richards’s family. It said: “Hayley was a beautiful young woman. She hurt no one and was loved by all. She was always there when required, no matter what was asked of her.” DCI Capstick said that tracing Mr Quintas was the principal line of inquiry for the team of 50 detectives. Officers were unable to say if Mr Quintas was the father of the unborn child. DCI Capstick added that Hayley was last seen by her family just before midnight on Friday.

The UK is burying itself in redtape and thoughtless decisions.
I would have thought fluency and local knowledge should be the deciding factor.
I wonder what the do when they need to cover rarer languages.
When ever did a few Deaths bother the Bureaucratic mind.

Terry
______________________________________
Blessed are those who suffer in the cause of right, the kingdom of heaven is theirs

 

[michel]

What is even more absurd (though not half as serious) is that the same absurdity is happening in the hospitals.

My Mother in Law does not speak English (She is Spanish); when Marie and I have had to take her to hospital (Which is quite a regular thing - she suffers from Epilepsy, an enlarged heart - plus a number of other ailments), the Doctors invite Mum in, and often wave Marie away - not wanting her to be prewsent during the consultation (patient privacy, whatever).
We, of course, sit outside waiting for the doctor to come out in a couple of minutes, when he has discovered Mum can't speak a word of English.

The hospital employs numerous foreign nurses, and auxilliary staff - the majority of them being Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese. Yet it never occurs to the Doctors or Staff Nurses in the wards to make use of these people when they have a non-English speaker in their care.

The last time I took Mum to Accident & Emmergency was about a month ago - she had had a small seizure and had cracked her head on a wooden cabinet on the way 'down' - she woke up in a pool of blood. After I had taken her to the hospital (seen by a triage nurse within 1/4 hour), we had to wait for three hours before being called in - during which time I was holding a linnen cloth firmly on the wound, to try and reduce the bleeding. When the doctor finally saw her, he decided that she would have to stay in overnight, under observation; I left and went to collect all her medication, went back to the hospital, went through her entire medical history with the doctor, etc etc.

When the evening shift came on (at around eleven o'clock), we had a phone call from the hospital from the doctor now in charge. "You must come", he told Marie, "We need you here to interpret, we need to know her medical history and what medication she is on"........ (as I say, this at eleven o'clock at night, to repeat the whole episode I had already endured because the other doctor's notes could not be found)