Abstract
International migration has increased rapidly over the past 20 years, with an estimated 281 million people living outside their country of birth. Similarly, migration to the UK has continued to rise over this period; current annual migration is estimated to be over 700,000 per year (net migration of over 300,000). With migration comes linguistic diversity, and in healthcare, this often translates into linguistic discordance between patients and healthcare professionals. This can result in communication difficulties that lead to lower quality of care and poor outcomes. COVID-19 has heightened inequalities in relation to language: communication barriers, defined as barriers in understanding or accessing key information on healthcare and challenges in reporting on health conditions, are known to have compounded risks for migrants in the context of COVID-19. Digitalisation of healthcare has further amplified inequalities in primary care for migrant groups.