A history of SignHealth


Previously called 'Sign'
The National Society for Mental Health and Deafness
    
SignHealth is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee.
Charity Commission number: 1011056, Company number: 2610559.

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Trustees

The charity's management committee is the Council of Trustees, as listed below:

Rodney Clark - Chairman
Richard Dunford
Tyron Woolfe
Dr Nicholas Kitson 
Philip Gerrard
Jon Kudlick
Anne Ryan
Manjit Gehir
Monica Wyatt
Liz Wyatt
Cathy Heffernan

All are involved in the work of the charity and four of the trustees are deaf. The Trustees provide a strong governance team.  

History of 'Sign' and SignHealth

The Anastasia Trust charity was formed in 1986 as a direct result of the lack of services for its deaf client group. It was the only organisation working specifically towards the provision of facilities for profoundly deaf people with additional needs.  The charity re-launched as Sign in 1991.  In 2005 the charity widened its remit to cover all aspects of health and is currently engaged in a range of activities focussed on generating change and improvement in healthcare for deaf people.

Development History

The charity's first housing project in Balham, South West London, has been running successfully since early 1993.  This is an Edwardian house converted into flats and now is home for five people who were referred from South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust. The tenants, who had moved from long term institutional care, have made dramatic progress and, with their mental health conditions having stabilised, they learnt new life skills and moved towards a greater degree of independence.

A second scheme opened in Manchester in October 1994 and once again all the tenants are making tremendous progress and living active lives.  Our tenants are encouraged to take an active part in the running of our schemes and we focus on person centred planning. They are thus able to take the tentative first steps in deciding how to live their lives, building up the self-confidence and self-esteem that has so often been lost after long periods of institutionalisation or isolation.  Tenants make choices in terms of decorating, colour schemes and furnishings; they chair weekly house meetings, take part in care audit procedures and work together with their key workers on their care plans.  Sign opened a second home in Manchester, and others have followed in Leeds, London and Birmingham.  Outreach services were started to support people in their communities.  

In the spring of 1996 Sign's largest project to that date opened.   This was a pioneering development in the health and social care for deaf people with mental health difficulties. The project, a result of a partnership with South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust (formerly of Springfield Hospital), saw the relocation of the inpatient psychiatric service from its former site, a deteriorating prefabricated building in the grounds of a Victorian mental hospital, to a converted church in the heart of the community.  The renovated building incorporates inpatient psychiatric care and facilities for specialised long-term accommodation for those patients who no longer need the intensive and costly hospital care but are not yet able to make the move back into the community.

A day service based on the 'Clubhouse' philosophy ran for several years in Balham from the end of 1995 to 2007.  People joined as members, not patients or clients, thereby encouraging a sense of belonging so often denied to people isolated in society. Sadly this project is no longer funded and has therefore had to close. 

Sign carried out research in 1995 assessing the needs of Deaf people with mental health problems, funded by the Department of Health.  The outcome of the investigations fed into plans for the development of future services throughout the UK.

SignHealth advocacy and counselling services have been established and we are able to reach more people in need by providing outreach from residential projects in Manchester and London.

Recent research projects included suicide and deafness and analytical reports following the national GP Patient Survey.  SignHealth is now working with the Department of Health on a number of initiatives affecting the health of deaf people.

Coming right up to date, 'Deaf Health' is SignHealth's research project over the next three years until 2012.  This research is a major project which, it is hoped, will provide the conclusive evidence that deaf people suffer worse physical and mental health than hearing people and that the barriers to good health care and health communication are currently insurmountable for many.

Deaf Stepping Stones project aims to support London based deaf people with additional needs into the work place in paid employment or volunteering.  Support with training is also included in the scheme.

Funding and Access to Services

SignHealth's supported housing projects have been established where there is an identified need and where there is local authority support.  This ensures long term viability.   Capital funding for housing projects comes from the Housing Corporation and SignHealth funds the commissioning costs.  Fees paid by Local Authorities for their clients cover revenue costs.  Referrals for places at SignHealth schemes normally come through Social Services and Community Mental Health teams. 

The charity is otherwise funded by trust funds and grants, local authority spot funding for services, voluntary donations and a range of fundraising activities.