Ukrainians recently arrived in Ireland are able to get the same healthcare services as people who live in Ireland. This includes access to our four national screening programmes – CervicalCheck, BreastCheck, Diabetic RetinaScreen and BowelScreen.
However, at NSS we know from our work to reduce inequity in screening that language and cultural differences can be barriers to people accessing the healthcare they need. You can read more about this in our Equity strategy development here.
To help overcome these barriers, the National Screening Service is creating information materials for people in their own languages.
Videos in Ukrainian and Russian
We are working with Translate Ireland to make videos which will help people to find out more about our screening programmes, and how to register. Find the videos at these links for DRS; BreastCheck and CervicalCheck. We will add to these resources over time.
The videos inform all patients about what they can expect when attending a screening appointment. They are delivered by native speakers of Ukrainian and Russian who are also healthcare workers based in Ireland.
The information is presented in a personal, relatable and culturally appropriate way, using simple language. Translate Ireland consulted with health advocates from migrant communities in creating the information people would receive. People are often reassured when they see a member of their own community delivering factual, trustworthy health information in the videos.
Translating the Ukrainian information is Dr Kateryna Kucherets, a General Practitioner based in Dublin. She is originally from Kyiv, Ukraine and has been working as a medical doctor in Ireland since 2016. Kateryna is currently involved in supporting those newly arrived from Ukraine and is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian and English.
The Russian translation is being provided by Polina Gulak, a nurse at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital in Dublin who is originally from Estonia. Polina has been living in Ireland for nearly 15 years. Since qualifying as a nurse in 2020, she has worked in both Cork and Dublin and is fluent in Russian and English.
Patient Information leaflets in Ukrainian and Russian
We are also working with DCU Translations to translate patient information leaflets on our services into Ukrainian and Russian. Our CervicalCheck Information Sheet and Cervical Screening Form are available here. These documents aid healthcare professionals in explaining cervical screening to people where English is not their first language.
Our screening information resources in Ukrainian and Russian are now also available on the Publications section of screeningservice.ie, here. These include translations of our four-programme factsheet, and of information leaflets for each programme. Easy-read leaflets with pictures explaining bowel and breast screening are also available.
The screening service provides information leaflets, and videos on cervical screening through 22 languages, and we welcome suggestions on other languages to communications@screeningservice.ie.
- You can find full details on the health services available to Ukrainian refugees on hse.ie.
Available in Ukrainian at Як отримати медичну допомогу в Ірландії or Russian at Получение услуг здравоохранения в Ирландии