As austerity rolls on and the NHS struggles to cope on reduced budgets, maybe a good dose of the awareness needed to manage deaf patients would help cut costs, wasted time and prevent frustration felt by both NHS staff and deaf and hard of hearing patients.
I recently had an appointment at my local hospital to have a check up and turned up early at reception to book in. I told the receptionist that I was a profoundly deaf lip reader and would not hear when they called me.
I then noticed a sign mentioning they had pagers to alert people who wanted to go and get a coffee at the coffee bar … (Coffee bar! Since when has an hospital appointment to see a doctor involved sitting in a coffee bar?!) … And as missing the staff calling my name is the one thing that I find stressful and embarrassing, I thought “Great! I should be able to relax a bit more”, and so asked if I could have a pager to help me manage this part of my visit.
In the past I have (after telling the receptionist I am deaf and will not hear any call) sat waiting to be called, missed the nurse shouting and as a result, missed my “slot” and been put to the back of the queue, occasionally the nurse has mistakenly believed she could get my attention by screaming, jumping up and down and waving her arms like a banshee!
Err… No it doesn’t work… I’m deaf and I’m reading the paper! The latter is very embarrassing for me, very good exercise for the nurse, and excellent entertainment for everyone else during their own mind numbingly boring wait.
Unfortunately the receptionist did not know how to operate the pager and so asked the nurse if she knew. “Oh you don’t need to worry about that darling I’ll come and get you” she says in that really annoying ‘hearing person speaking to deaf person speak that they do’ (you know … the loud, slow motion, exaggeratingly annoying lip movements. Oh you DO know? I thought they only did that with me!)
Well! I thought… that was a waste of time. Never mind… she WILL come and get me.
And so she did, she was lovely really… “Just need to weigh you love, stand on there for me” Ok go and sit down again darling we’ll come and get you shortly” … all with that annoying “hearing person speaking to deaf person…” Ohh! Done that… sorry…
So I went and sat down. I’m still not worried… she WILL come and get me again.
A few moments later this guy walks in and speaks to the receptionist and she points at me nodding her head and smiling. This guy then walks over to me and signs to me… presumably to say “Hello I’m your interpreter for your appointment”
I frown and say “Sorry mate, I don’t use British Sign Language, I lip read, I don’t need an interpreter”.
Oh… that’s OK, I was booked by reception says the guy and walks over to get some paperwork signed by the receptionist who … suddenly doesn’t seem to be smiling at me anymore!
“Oh aye!” I’m off in my grumpy old man mode… thinking… Now how much did that interpreter cost the NHS for turning up to do a job which didn’t exist? They’re not cheap are they? And not the first time that’s happened to me either… flipping idiots… all they have to do is ask me!
And write it down CLEARLY on notes… PROFOUNDLY DEAF LIP READER WITH SPEECH! Or DEAF BSL USER INTERPRETER NEEDED or DEAF LIPREADER, LIPSPEAKER REQUIRED… grumble, grumble I go, I don’t know what the worlds coming to…
All of a sudden I become aware of this person screaming and jumping up and down like a banshee out of the corner of my eye… Erm… Flaming nurse who weighed me forgot to tell the doctors’ nurse I’M DEAF!
OH! COME ON… get some common sense… ALREADY!
Mike is a semi-retired fine artist working from his home studio in Lancashire. As a profoundly deaf lip reader, he is just one of a large family with a genetic history of deafness. Mike attended a mainstream school before being transferred to a school for the deaf aged 11. He worked as a landscape gardener for thirty years and married Sara (who is hearing), then attended university as a mature student and gained a BA and MA in Fine Art. He is father to a son (hearing) and daughter (deaf on one side) and is currently preparing for cochlear implant surgery.
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queby
June 16, 2015
It doesn’t help that so many foreign doctors and nurses in the NHS speak English with such a heavy accent that they are impossible to understand if you are hearing impaired.
Cathy
June 16, 2015
Spot on there, Queby! Another reason I have to use an interpreter!!! Foreign accents are just no good for deaf people………
Kate Murdoch
June 16, 2015
Great article and thanks for highlighting, though sorry to read about your negative experience. All too familiar! I have talked for years about daring to offer disability awareness training to staff in ENT departments. I frequently make a point of asking other people in waiting reception areas if they heard the name just called, as in my experience, the names are often mumbled, or worse still, called from the corridor so you don’t even see the person calling. I think there’s a real need for deaf awareness training universally but it always strikes me as ironic that common sense ways of communicating with deaf and hard of hearing people doesn’t stretch
to ENT departments.
MW
June 16, 2015
Mike,
Brilliant article here for you to share.
Have you had the chance to pass this onto the Chief of Nursing, PALS manager, and lastly the Department manager? So this could be documented for the Board of Trustee to be aware.
You need to send this blurb to NHS England.
In your feedback, if they do not come up with a resolution on how they are going to address the problem and you are not happy then you need to move the issues into the complaint section (costly and timely process which is why I suggested the feedback route).
The weakness in all this is the need for CLEAR COMMUNICATION in their deaf awareness training. I guess it often talks of Deaf people and BSL and not on deafness and access to communication.
It is interesting that the pager system in most hospital are not being use properly and of course lead to money being wasted including interpreter bookings – I twice had two interpreters book for the same appointment and that was madness.
I use interpreter because some staff speak really sloppy /lazy and because I am based in London and it is very multicultural society and some have very strong accent to lip read. I even had a female interpreter booked for my male issue appointment and I can tell you that I was not a polite person on that matter.
For your information – The London Assembly – Health Committee has launch the “Access to Health Services for deaf people” as to encourage health providers to consider the problems d/Deaf people do face. http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor-assembly/london-assembly/publications
I believe there is a requirement to put your perceived communication needs on the database and this will come into force in July.
bozothewondernerd
June 16, 2015
Been there (by proxy), done that (by proxy) … there must be a market to a T-Shirt … 🙂
katyjudd2013
June 16, 2015
D/deaf awareness training for hospital staff can improve the patient experience and be interesting for staff. So why doesn’t it happen more often? If senior hospital staff were trained first, using real life stories from their own patients, perhaps regular funding would be secured and staff attendance prioritised (plus accessible information provided, data on D/deaf patients using the services analysed, decisions made re use of e.g. trainee interpreters etc)? Deaf Awareness training might be prioritised if copies of the programme and numbers trained had to be produced for, for example, the Care Quality Commission or NHS England.
Carl
June 16, 2015
When my partner lost her hearing (she went from using a hearing aid to having Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss) last year this was the thing that infuriated me the most through all our GP and hospital visits. We lost count of the amount of practitioners we saw and visited 3 audiology departments in 3 very different hospitals ranging from victorian to modern hi-tech. Not one catered for her with signs or pagers. I’m a hearing person and believe me even we struggle hearing the names hastily spat out from an (often) foreign tongue.
It’s frustrating that the disability discrimination act set out to make access a priority across all businesses. Access by way of ramps, lifts and toilets…. But the Act fails miserably in including all forms of disability. With an aging population and hearing loss on the increase its a startling oversight which I hope will be righted by modern technology soon.
chrissie
June 16, 2015
Most people have a vibrating mobile phone.A simple tex could be worth thinking about with a ‘Patient connect phone’ in all ENT depts.
Pauline Roberts
June 16, 2015
MW, in my experience PALS is a waste of time. My friend was supposed to have a communicator who could use BSL and also take notes so she had a back up to go over after her appointment. The first time they never turned up; even worse there was no apology or explanation later. The second time, the communicator did not seem to have any BSL skills as they didn’t use any (My friend has good speech which can give a false impression). Nor did they take any notes which yet again, my friend was left not understanding fully what the appointment and ‘big words’ meant.
MW
June 16, 2015
Pauline,
Excellent feedback – “PALS is a waste of time”. I shared the shame frustration how poor they are at being held accountable but they have a job to do – helping us with limited budget and staff (not diverse enough on the team). Nevertheless, some have been good and some pretty disappointing as you have experienced. We also need to take up what they have done to make a good customer service experience.
What begs the question – the next step did you complain about how PALS had failed you and with whom may I ask? Do you know? Have you been empowered and enabled to know?…
We need a lot more of this debate as to share an understanding of the pathways to communicate with the RIGHT PEOPLE in the system – to take stock that lip-service within NHS are not the acceptable norm – including deaf organisations and mark you me – some do set a very bad example by greed and makes the problems that much worse.
More so, I am beginning to question the integrity deaf awareness training, being free for all, who knows what they are doing on the job and often are not being held to account via training, qualification, accreditation, and lastly, a uniformed deaf awareness training that sings from the same hymn sheet across the NHS is necessary and that won’t happen until the fat lady/man sings/sing songs.
It seems we need to empower d/Deaf service users how to communicate with the right channel their life experience/journey and my suggestion with anyone to wrote directly to the Chief of Nursing and I can tell you that you will get action – if not, then don’t use the hospital.
Pauline Roberts
June 17, 2015
It was quite a while back MW, and initially my friend’s family tried to deal with it. We have more recently had a PALS representative or other coordinators at our Deaf Partnership group locally, but there seems to be 2 issues.1: slowness of time of getting any proper answers. 2: an actual lack of suitable communicators/interpreters for the patient’s need. I felt bad after the event because I could have done a better job myself having often been of assistance, and she had actually asked me if I would do it. I turned her down on that occasion due to my own health problems but also the fact I told her she was entitled to and deserved a professional.
Going on to Deaf awareness in organisations: that is often a joke. Why? Despite having top quality training most of the time, it is as if it is all forgotten afterwards on a daily basis in their work. After lots of nagging with our local housing association, about 3 years ago they eventually agreed to send the grand sum of 2 staff members on a BSL Level 1 course. No sooner had they done this so at least there was someone with the basics on the front desk; they took those members of staff and moved them ‘sideways’ to other departments. What a waste and also an insult to the Deaf community.
rogeer
June 17, 2015
I hate hospital appointments. Whenever I have an appointment, I literally sit there scanning the waiting rooms, waiting for my appointment. Everytime a nurse comes in, I am already looking carefully if its me.
Its so tiring and scanning the room with your eyes for over an hour is enough to drain you out for the rest of the day!
I tell them I am deaf etc but it doesnt always work. The most failproof method is not to read any paper or phone etc – just look ahead carefully if someone comes in. Its terribly tiring but failproof. I cant do anything – not even catch up on work or even chat to people on whatsapp etc because I am busy looking!