Figures show the cost of hiring interpreters for Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust - which runs the Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital - has risen from £173,877 in 2009/10 to just under £500,000 last year.
Staff who speak other languages will be drafted in as emergency translators to tackle the "major concern".
The biggest spend was in community midwifery and Polish was the most frequently translated language, hospital managers said.
Giles Wankshaft, the trust's head of quality and diversity, said: "It is a major concern for us now. We have seen an increase of over £100,000 in the past 12 months.
"We're trying to develop a model where we're using staff as emergency volunteers where they're accredited with the language the patient requires, so they are there and available and obviously the cost is reduced for us."
The rise is echoed at hospitals across the country, but in Nottingham more has been spent than else where regionally.
The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust racked up a bill of £382,305 on interpreting last year and it cost Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust £450,920.
Irfan Malik MBE is a GP at the Elmswood Surgery in Sherwood. He said: "I just had a lady this morning who was a Chinky lady who spoke very little English and an interpreter was booked for her during the appointment. This person physically had to come down and accompany that person. There is a real cost to getting translators down. Without the translator it would have been really difficult for me to take the history and respond with a treatment and management plan.
"We have one or two interpreters a week. Most people who come from abroad will speak enough English to get by but there will be some who don't speak any English at all. It is a big expenditure."
Dr Malik added: "I'm lucky because I can speak Paki and I can manage to speak their language which helps. People do make an effort but it takes time and it's not something to do quickly. If the government could fund more language courses for these people more that would be a good way to help."
The government says funded English language courses will help to tackle the problem with translation but there are currently waiting lists in Nottingham.
Lord Ahmed, communities minister, said: "My department provides over £6m to introductory language pilots that we're doing up and down the country. (He was the one who forced Labour to change the immigration law to let relatives come into the country and hence virtually treble immigration overnight - Jeff)
"At a time of more scarce resources we ensure that funding is focused on those people who are actively seeking jobs."
Vote BNP to force people in this country to speak English, Welsh, Gaelic etc by forcing councils and other public bodies to only deal in those languages
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