Procurement planning of interpreter services for persons with disabilities nearly complete – customer feedback collected by survey

To support the procurement planning that began in autumn 2023, Kela has sent a survey to customers of interpreter services for persons with disabilities and arranged a market dialogue. The procurement process is expected to start in April.

Last autumn, Kela started planning the next procurement concerning the interpreter services for persons with disabilities. The purpose of the procurement is to choose the service providers and interpreters who will provide the interpreter services for persons with disabilities as of 1 January 2025.

The aim of the planning stage was to clarify what customers think about the services and to organise a written market dialogue.

More than 800 responses to customer survey

During the procurement planning, an online survey was sent to customers in order to learn about their experiences and thoughts on interpretation in work-related situations and remote interpretation, among other things.

The survey received 861 responses. The responses are used in the procurement planning and in the development of the interpreter services for persons with disabilities.

Detailed results of the customer survey will be published in the spring. Preliminary results suggest that customers are looking for improvements in work-related interpretation and in personal interpreter lists. In addition, customers need more information on remote interpretation and guidance in its use.

Familiar interpreters for work-related situations, improved interpreter lists

During the next contract period, the aim is to better ensure that customers are able to get the same interpreter for work-related situations whenever possible. In addition, Kela strives to investigate the potential special needs customers may have in work-related situations more comprehensively and to increase cooperation with customers.

Efforts are also being made to improve the functioning of personal interpreter lists. Approximately half of the customers of Kela’s interpreter services for persons with disabilities want to use a personal interpreter list. Kela attempts to forward each customer’s orders to interpreters on the customer’s list. However, this is not always possible. Going forward, Kela strives to be more active in monitoring whether customers are able to get an interpreter from their interpreter list and in proposing changes to the list if it is not working. The aim is to improve the functioning of the list together with the customer.

According to the customer survey, many customers are unfamiliar with remote interpretation. This is why Kela will increase communications about it, for example, regarding the situations in which remote interpretation can be used. In addition, Kela will offer more guidance in the use of remote interpretation software.

More than 100 service providers participated in market dialogue

A written market dialogue on the interpreter services for persons with disabilities began in October 2023. The purpose of the market dialogue is to determine whether there are operators on the market that can meet the goals of the procurement. The dialogue was joined by 103 parties interested in the provision of interpreter services. In addition, Kela has met with representatives of educational institutions in the field of interpretation and looked into the current state of remote interpretation provision.

According to current estimates, the procurement process will start in April. An invitation to tender concerning the provision of interpreter services will be posted on the Hilma electronic procurement portal. Kela will post a notification about the invitation to tender on its website and directly notify the parties who participated in the market dialogue. Once competitive tendering starts, Kela will no longer be able to participate in discussions about it in order to ensure equal treatment of bidders.

Additional information for customers

Interpreter services for persons with disabilities
Procurement of interpreter services for persons with disabilities