D/deaf Feedback Report Response: Sign Health

Patient Experiences: Deaf Patients – Sign Health Service Provider

In line with findings nationally; as supported by Sign Health’s review of the NHS Accessible Standard in 2021, (report to link attached 1) the Deafness Resource Centre recognise that there is significant work to be done to align health services for D/deaf people with hearing services.

As the preferred provider of British Sign Language interpreters to Warrington and Halton Hospital Trust (W&HHT) we work closely with the Trust to ensure that, not only are Deaf patients supported with qualified British Sign Language Interpreters, but any clinical areas that are inaccessible are reported to the Trust.  Our advocate works closely with the Patient Experience Team and highlights inaccessibility and poor practice whenever this arises, for example when patients advise us directly that they have an appointment, and we haven’t had a request for an interpreter or if the patient requests an interpreter and its declined. The DRC attends the Trust’s Patient Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee meetings to raise awareness and improve access.

We fully support the right of BSL users to have a qualified Interpreter for all bookings and we liaise directly with the hospital to ensure this right is upheld. 

At the Deafness Resource Centre, we have a bank of qualified British Sign Language Interpreters who work across healthcare settings, this includes an on-call register of interpreters available to work outside of office hours/weekends and bank holidays for emergency cover.

We have developed strong working relationships with our Interpreters and W&HHT enabling us to be flexible and responsive to booking requests and it is extremely rare that we cannot fill a booking. We provide monthly reports to the Trust detailing the number of bookings received and filled and those we are unable to fill.

Our ability to provide an interpreter relies on the hospital making a request as soon as an appointment is made or at the first point of contact when attending A&E, and also providing accurate and relevant information.

We would encourage any clients who are having issues with the provision of British Sign Language Interpreters to contact our advocate  ruth.turner@deafnessresourcecentre.org who will liaise with W&HHT Patient Experience Team on their behalf.

 https://signhealth.org.uk/resources/research/review-of-the-nhs-accessible-information-standard/