Deaf News: BSL access now available at COVID-19 vaccination centres through InterpreterNow app

Deaf people looking to communicate with health professionals when receiving their COVID-19 jab can now do so through the InterpreterNow app, it has been announced.

It follows news in December that the application could be used to call the NHS 119 service about coronavirus tests and vaccinations.

In a video posted to social media, the Deaf health charity SignHealth said: “When you go to get your vaccination done, to communicate with health professionals, all you need to do is download the InterpreterNow app on your device, register, then search for NHS 119 and a BSL interpreter will appear instantly.”

Concerns over British Sign Language (BSL) provision for vaccinations were raised by the charity last month, as the BSL Health Access service – which allowed Deaf people to contact health services remotely – looked set to close on 31 March.

The shutting down of the service was later confirmed on the day itself, with NHS England telling the charity that they would not fund BSL Health Access any further.

Speaking to The Limping Chicken on 19 March, SignHealth’s chief executive James Watson-O’Neill said: “I think what BSL Health Access has done is provide the evidence that this service is needed. It is, you know, loved by lots of deaf people, it’s transformed people’s access to health care, and it’s still needed now.

“That’s before we even begin to think about the vaccination programme, but also testing, because as the country gets unlocked, more and more people will need to be tested. It’s just not possible to provide in-person interpreters for all of those sites.

“We don’t think that VRS [Video Relay Services] and VRI [Video Relay Interpreting] is the answer to everything, but, when it’s so difficult to get an in-person interpreter and impossible at vaccination centres and testing centres because there is too many of them,” he said.

More information about accessing NHS 119 with BSL interpretation, as well as how to download the Interpreter Now app, can be found on the service’s official website.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is a mildly deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He wears bilateral hearing aids and can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.