Word360 launches Wondaa AI interpreter app for NHS

Word360 has launched Wondaa, an AI interpreter app for NHS staff designed to support real-time communication with patients in more than 100 languages.

The Birmingham-based company says the app is intended for routine frontline exchanges such as check-ins, standard instructions and appointment management. It offers two-way voice translation and on-screen text, and was built around healthcare workflows with clinical phrase libraries developed by clinical linguists and healthcare professionals.

Language support remains uneven across the health service, according to NHS England’s Community Language Translation and Interpreting Improvement Framework. Around one million people in the UK are unable to speak English well or at all, the framework says, creating barriers to access and adding operational pressure for providers.

Trusts can face delays in securing professional interpreters, particularly in emergency settings or outside normal hours. That can leave staff without immediate support for routine conversations that do not involve complex clinical discussions but still affect patient experience and care delivery.

Clinical use

Wondaa was developed for those day-to-day interactions, not to replace interpreters in sensitive or high-risk consultations. If staff need to escalate to a qualified interpreter, the system can connect users to Word360’s existing interpreting services.

The app’s phrase packs cover common care scenarios, including maternity and emergency settings. Those libraries are structured to support clinically appropriate communication and could help with use cases linked to Martha’s Rule.

Development included collaboration with teams at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, where staff have previously explored AI tools in clinical environments. That work included ambient voice technology used to create structured clinical documentation for clinicians to review and validate.

Garry Perry, Associate Director Patient Voice (Experience) at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said: “Good communication is fundamental to patient safety, care quality and trust. Strong clinician-patient communication improves outcomes and reduces costs, making it central to high-performing NHS services.”

Tools like Wondaa have the potential to reduce administrative pressure, improve access to care and support more effective communication with patients. However, it is important that AI is used alongside, not instead of, professional interpreters. Interpreters remain essential for complex, emotional and high-risk conversations where accuracy and nuance are critical. The future is likely to be a hybrid model that combines both.”

Hybrid model

The launch comes as NHS organisations face continued pressure to improve accessibility while managing stretched services. NHS England has said translation and interpreting provision remains variable across trusts and integrated care systems despite legal duties around accessible communication.

Hospitals and community providers are therefore weighing how to use new digital tools without weakening safeguards for patients whose first language is not English. In practice, the clearest role for AI-based translation is likely to be in routine, lower-risk exchanges where staff need quick access to basic multilingual communication.

Word360 already provides interpreting support through its Wordskii platform and says it works with more than 50 trusts and health boards. Its wider service covers more than 450 languages through a UK-based network of professional linguists.

Kavita Parmar, Co Founder and CCO, Word360, said: “Clear communication is fundamental to safe and equitable healthcare. When patients and clinicians cannot understand each other, it can affect confidence, outcomes and experience. Wondaa has been developed with clinical input for the conversations that don’t happen, but should, while ensuring professional interpreters remain central to clinical communication. Responsible use of AI in healthcare depends on governance, oversight and clear boundaries, and that has guided our approach.”