Kay Kelly tells us about the First Responder service supporting effective treatment in emergencies for BSL users (BSL)

I’m Kay Kelly, Chief Executive at Walthew House, which is a local charity supporting people with hearing and/or sight loss in Stockport.  I’ve worked for the charity for nearly 18 years.

Walthew House is a small independent charity supporting people with sensory loss in Stockport and the surrounding areas.  The charity was founded over 140 years ago.

We provide a wide range of services and support – accessible information and advocacy services; social groups and activities, including a youth club for 5-14 year olds with hearing and/or sight loss; a not-for-profit equipment and technology resource centre; and training – lipreading, BSL, sensory loss awareness etc.

The project Deaf First Responder was inspired by one of our members, Bob, who had a fall at home and facetimed Naomi, one of our advocates, for help.  Naomi called an ambulance and waited online with Bob to reassure him until paramedics arrived.  She was then able to explain to them that Bob was deaf and wouldn’t be able to answer their questions directly.

Naomi isn’t a qualified interpreter so she couldn’t interpret for the ambulance crew, but she could help facilitate communication.  For example, the paramedics needed to know if Bob was on any medication.  Naomi asked Bob where his medicines were and directed the paramedic to find them.

Bob was transferred to hospital.  Naomi met him there to offer support – she advised the staff that Bob needed a BSL interpreter and gave them the contact details for the hospital’s contracted agency.

She then stayed with Bob, who lived on his own and didn’t have family close by while he went for a scan and then was transferred to a ward.  In the meantime, she contacted his friends to let them know what had happened.

On the ward she was able to advise the staff of their legal duty to provide communication support, the process for booking an interpreter and give them some tips for communicating with Bob informally.

Over the next few weeks, in her advocacy role, Naomi was able to support hospital staff and the community healthcare providers who treated Bob, to make sure they understood when they needed to book an interpreter and how to do this and provide basic deaf awareness training, ensuring that healthcare staff were equipped to support Bob or any other deaf patient.

Chatting with our members about Bob’s experience started us thinking about how we could improve support to deaf people in an emergency, without having to rely on friends or family.

Service data, consultation with over 200 deaf people in the Greater Manchester, and many stories similar to Bob’s, where deaf people have relied on the kindness of hearing friends who sign to help in an emergency inspired the Deaf First Responder Project – providing deaf people with a way to get help in an emergency, using Facetime, text, WhatsApp or voice.

The project is now funded until March 2026 by NHS Charities Together and is being used by deaf people and healthcare professionals in Stockport and surrounding areas.

Examples include:  patients contacting the service when they arrive for an appointment and no interpreter has been booked and a hospital trying to discharge a patient without an interpreter to explain  medication and ongoing treatment.

Enquiries are leading up to a lot of follow-up work – for instance one patient being expected to use their hearing partner to interpret for a telephone appointment has led to a formal complaint supported by the Responder service and also the offer of training for the staff – so they can better understand the needs of deaf patients.

We have stories from members, and also from interpreters, hearing members of deaf families and our own advocates.  In our recent consultation with over 200 deaf people in Greater Manchester, 66% of respondents said that access to healthcare was their biggest concern.

At the launch one person commented –

“I wish I’d had this help a month ago when I went to A&E with a pain in my chest.  I had to write down what was happening to me. The staff didn’t even know how to book and interpreter.”

We really want to demonstrate to the funders that this is a project that, as well as helping deaf people, can improve health outcomes and be value for money in the health service.

If we can make this work in Greater Manchester it could be something the NHS supports throughout the country.

Deaf First Responder Service is a service in Stockport and surrounding areas supporting Sign Language users and frontline healthcare professionals. For further information contact admin@walthewhouse.org.uk