Medical Translation Services UK 

WHAT IS MEDICAL TRANSLATION? Medical translation covers the translation of documents and content relating to the medical, pharmaceutical, and life sciences sectors. This includes clinical trial documentation, device IFUs and labelling, patient information leaflets, pharmacovigilance reports, regulatory submissions, training materials, and patient records. It requires translators with specialist knowledge of the relevant clinical or regulatory field, not generalist linguists.

Medical translation services require more than language fluency. They demand deep specialist knowledge of the specific medical or pharmaceutical sector involved, because a mistranslation of a drug data sheet, an IFU for a medical device, or a clinical trial consent form can have direct consequences for patient safety and regulatory compliance.

At Global LTS, we provide ISO 17100:2015-certified medical translation services for pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, clinical research organisations, and healthcare providers. Our translators are specialists first, linguists second — selected for their sector-specific background, not just their language pair.

Whether you need to translate product documentation for EU MDR compliance, localise IFUs for CE or UKCA marking, or produce clinical materials in 20+ languages for a global trial, we have the team and the process to deliver.

What is medical translation?

Medical translation covers any documentation relating to the medical, pharmaceutical, or life sciences sectors. That includes patient-facing materials such as consent forms and information leaflets, regulatory submissions, clinical trial documentation, device labelling, post-market surveillance reports, and training content for healthcare professionals.

What sets it apart from other specialist translation fields is the consequence of error. A mistranslation in a drug data sheet, a device IFU, or a clinical trial consent form can affect patient safety and create regulatory liability. Generalist translators working from a medical glossary are not sufficient. The work requires people who understand the clinical or regulatory context behind the text — not just the words.

At Global LTS, every medical translation is handled by a translator with direct experience in the relevant branch of medicine or life sciences, reviewed by a second specialist linguist, and delivered under our ISO 17100:2015-certified workflow.

Medical Device Translation for CE Marking, UKCA, and EU MDR

Manufacturers selling medical devices in the EU must provide Instructions for Use (IFUs), labels, safety warnings, and supporting documentation in the official language or languages required by each member state, as mandated by EU MDR (Regulation (EU) 2017/745). For the UK market, UKCA marking requirements apply separately following Brexit.

Non-compliant documentation can delay market entry, trigger regulatory action, or result in device recalls. Accurate, terminology-consistent translations are not a box-ticking exercise, they are a regulatory requirement.

We support medical device manufacturers with:

• IFU translation — Instructions for Use translated into all required EU and global languages, with full terminology consistency across product lines.
• Device labelling translation — Labels, symbols, and warnings translated accurately for multi-market distribution.
• Technical file documentation — Translation of technical files, risk management reports, and clinical evaluation reports for regulatory submissions.
• CE and UKCA marking support — Ensuring documentation meets the language requirements for EU member states and the UK.
• Post-market surveillance materials — Periodic Safety Update Reports (PSURs), post-market clinical follow-up (PMCF) documentation, and vigilance reports.
• Software documentation (SaMD) — Translation of software UI, help files, and accompanying documentation for Software as a Medical Device

Our medical device translation clients include C-Trak (Apollo gamma probe system), GM Instruments (rhinometry devices), and global pharmaceutical companies requiring ongoing multilingual documentation support across 32+ languages.

All translations follow ISO 17100:2015 workflows and are backed by our Lifetime Quality Guarantee.

For device manufacturers who also need manuals, installation guides, and engineering documentation translated, see our technical translation services.

Where can medical translation services help out?

Our language experts can provide medical translations for the following documents.

Clinical trial reports

Clinical trial documentation includes protocols, investigator brochures, case report forms, patient-facing materials, and final study reports. Each document type carries different language requirements — a protocol needs precision and terminological consistency across all site languages, while a patient-facing summary needs to be genuinely readable by a non-specialist. We translate clinical trial materials for CROs, pharmaceutical companies, and academic research institutions, covering all languages required for multi-site international trials.

Consent forms

Informed consent forms must meet the language requirements of the ethics committee or regulatory authority in each country where a trial or procedure takes place. Beyond compliance, the translation needs to be something a patient can actually understand — not a word-for-word rendering that preserves English sentence structure at the expense of clarity. Our translators follow ICH E6 Good Clinical Practice guidelines and produce plain-language, culturally appropriate translations that protect both the patient and the institution.

Terminology management

Consistent terminology matters more in medical translation than in almost any other field. A device referred to as a “probe” in one document and a “sensor” in another creates confusion for clinicians and risk for manufacturers. For every ongoing medical account, we build and maintain a client-specific glossary and translation memory, ensuring that product names, anatomical terms, procedural descriptions, and regulatory terminology stay consistent across IFUs, labels, clinical materials, and training content — regardless of language or project volume.

Information leaflets

Patient Information Leaflets and Summaries of Product Characteristics are regulated documents in both the EU and UK. They must conform to QRD (Quality Review of Documents) templates and use language that is accessible to patients rather than clinicians. Our translators produce PIL and SmPC translations that meet EMA and MHRA readability requirements, with terminology validated against the approved product labelling in each target market.

Labelling

Medical device and pharmaceutical labelling must appear in the official language of every market where the product is sold. Under EU MDR and IVDR, that means all relevant EU member state languages — a requirement that applies to labels, outer packaging, symbols, warnings, shelf-life information, and storage instructions. We deliver translated labels in the formats manufacturers actually need, including InDesign and print-ready files, with DTP handled in-house rather than handed back to your team to reformat.

Medical packaging

Medical packaging translation covers outer cartons, blister packs, bottles, and any secondary packaging that carries regulatory or safety information. The text must be accurate, fit within the physical space available, and comply with the labelling regulations of each target market — including font size requirements under EU MDR and pharmaceutical packaging directives. We work directly with the source files, handle DTP in-house, and return print-ready artwork so your packaging team can go straight to production.

Patient records

Patient record translation arises most often when a patient moves between countries, when records are submitted as part of a visa or immigration application, or when clinical data is required for an international trial. The translation must be accurate and complete — omissions or paraphrasing in a medical history can have direct consequences for the treating clinician. Every patient record we translate is handled by a medically qualified linguist and delivered with a signed Certificate of Accuracy.

Pharmaceutical reports

Pharmaceutical documentation spans drug data sheets, pharmacovigilance reports, periodic benefit-risk evaluation reports (PBRERs), and regulatory submissions to bodies such as the EMA and MHRA. These are complex, high-stakes documents where regulatory terminology must be exact and consistent across all language versions. Our pharmaceutical translators have backgrounds in pharmacology, clinical research, and regulatory affairs, and work to the terminology standards required by the relevant authorities in each target market.

Training manuals and medical equipment user manuals

Training materials for clinical staff and user manuals for medical equipment carry different requirements but share the same core demand: the translated version must be as clear and unambiguous as the original. For equipment manuals, this includes diagrams with text labels, safety warnings, and step-by-step procedural instructions — all of which require DTP handling alongside the translation. For staff training content, we also support e-learning localisation, adapting SCORM packages and other digital formats for multilingual deployment across healthcare organisations.

ISO 13485 documentation translation

ISO 13485 is the international quality management standard for medical device manufacturers. Maintaining certification requires that your QMS documentation — procedures, work instructions, risk management files, and audit records — is available in the languages required by your regulatory markets and your own workforce. We translate ISO 13485 documentation for manufacturers operating across multiple markets, maintaining terminology consistency between your QMS and your product documentation so the two sets of records align under audit.

 Health and safety documentation

Health and safety documentation must be understood by every employee it applies to, regardless of their first language. For manufacturers, construction companies, and logistics operators with multilingual workforces, that means translating risk assessments, COSHH data sheets, safe operating procedures, and site safety notices into the languages your teams actually speak. We translate health and safety materials into 120+ languages, with translators who understand both the regulatory context and the practical environment the documents will be used in.

The benefits of using Global LTS for certified medical translation services.

In the medical and pharmaceutical sectors, the quality and accuracy of translations are of paramount importance because lives literally can depend on them.

We have over a decade of experience in delivering complex translation projects and have a team in place to handle your medical translations too.

What makes our medical translators the best in the UK and internationally?

Our medical translators meet the following criteria:

• Minimum of 5 years as professional translators
• Experience within the medical translations sector
• Experience within the specific branch of the medical industry matching your sector

Knowledge and expertise

We’re aware that a medical translator needs to have a wealth of knowledge about medicine varying from biochemistry, physics, mathematics, pharmacology and more, to truly offer an excellent standard of medical translations.

Vast medical translations experience

Our medical translators are chosen for their experience, aptitude and qualifications.

They provide medical translation services on daily basis.

Their knowledge and experience help them understand healthcare professionals and healthcare providers, so they can provide an accurate translation that uses the correct and up-to-date terminology.

Medical specialisation

For each project, we source professionals with prior knowledge in the area of expertise required for the job at hand. We will match translators with your particular medical sector, whether you need to translate patient information research papers or medical records, or pharmaceutical production instructions, we have the team for you.

A vast network of professional medical translators

When you work with Global LTS, you are tapping into our network of thousands of tried and trusted professional medical translators.

All of our expert translators working on medical translations have at least five years of experience working as translation specialists within the medical industry.

And the ones we choose for medical projects will have the appropriate training, qualifications and experience to understand medical terminology and have a full appreciation of the issues involved.

Certified Medical Translation Services

We offer certified medical translations. We ensure that all translations adhere to the highest standards of accuracy and precision by using only experienced translators specialized in the particular branch of medicine reflecting your sector’s needs.

We follow the rules and guidelines related to certified translation and can issue a signed Certificate of Accuracy.

ISO 17100:2015 certified

All our medical translation processes are certified to the standard ISO 17100:2015 certified.

Summary

Global LTS provides certified medical translation services for both professional and patient-facing materials, from highly technical pharmaceutical documentation and medical device IFUs through to patient information leaflets, clinical trial consent forms, and training manuals.

For professional-facing materials, our translators apply exact specialist terminology in the target language. For patient-facing materials, they balance linguistic accuracy with cultural sensitivity and plain-language accessibility.

If you have a medical translation project, a one-off document or an ongoing multilingual documentation programme, contact us for a free quote. We’ll match you with translators who know your specific sector.

Medical Translation Services Case Studies

Category: Medical Translation Services
Description: Written Translation
Client: Interact Medical

Size of project: Ongoing translation – daily projects

Interact Medical is a preeminent medical locum agency, revolutionizing the way healthcare professionals and organizations connect. They specialise fulfilment of doctor jobs, nursing agency jobs and all other healthcare locums

We have been providing the translation of criminal record checks, residence proofs, education diplomas and certificates. Each translated document includes our Certificate of Accuracy, guaranteeing its accuracy and quality.

Category: Medical Translation Services
Description: Written Translation & Multilingual Voiceover
Client: Shire Plc.

Size of project: 2,000 words script and voiceover recording

The Shire team was intent on raising awareness for Fosrenol, so they created an animation to showcase how the medication can be used optimally. This animated video was specifically crafted for healthcare providers and contains technical medical language.

Our team crafted a translation of the script with precision and care, and we recorded the multilingual voiceover for the animation.

Category: Medical Translation Services
Description: Written Translation into French, German, Spanish, Italian and Brazilian Portuguese
Client: Shire Plc.

Size of project: 40,000 words 

When the Shire team were working on promoting their drug Equasym, they needed to translate an extensive manual on how to best use the drug. The manual was aimed at medical professionals and was using medical jargon.

Category: Medical Translation Services
Description: Written Translation into French, German, Spanish and Italian.
Client: Celgene Corporation

Size of project: 110,000 words 

Celgene needed an expert e-learning program translation to ensure accuracy and clarity. Our medical translators ensured that not only was the translation accurate and free-flowing but also effectively operated within the client’s e-learning platform.