Information for all

SignHealth has written to officials at the Department of Health demanding better information for Deaf people. Health leaflets and letters are constantly being sent by the Department and NHS. Much of this information is available in other languages. But BSL always seems to be forgotten.

Steve Powell,chief executive of SignHealth, said: " One could say that there is a continuing discrimination within DH and the NHS in its failure to provide information and advice to a minority ethnic group, (profoundly Deaf people have their own language and culture).

"Just recently information was distributed by PCTs on Summary Care Records.  This was available in 12 or more foreign languages, in simple pictorial illustrations for those with a Learning Disability, and for those with sight problems in braille, large print and audio.  Once again the needs of Deaf sign language users was completely forgotten."

If you have been denied access to health information then let us know. Use the site www.deafhealthtalk.org.uk - good experiences and bad, we want know. 


Access to better healthcare for deaf people

SignHealth is committed to bringing better healthcare and equality of service provision to deaf people in the UK. To achieve our goals, we need to work in partnership with deaf people and deaf organisations, with health services and other charities, all of whom have the knowledge and skills to make this possible.

We aim to inform deaf people of their rights along the care pathway and, where necessary, provide help and support. It will also be targeting health professionals and health departments to ensure they understand what deaf people are entitled to and, if they are not providing it, offer advice. SignHealth aim to provide real and practical improvements for deaf people in accessing healthcare locally.

We are also working with policy makers and Commissioning Groups too to influence policy and purchasing of specialist services for deaf people. 

Why do you keep missing me?

The GP Patient Survey asks lots of people about their experience of seeing their GP. SignHealth looked at the responses of deaf people. Read this report to see why we think Deaf people are less healthy and get poorer access to services.

 

Why are you still missing me?

The 2009 GP Patient Survey highlighted the poor experience of Deaf patients. This report looks at some of the responses from Deaf people, and tries to explain the results. Why are 20% of Deaf people "permanently sick or disabled" compared to 6% of the general population? Why have 19% of Deaf people tried to contact their out-of-hours GP service, compared to just 7% of hearing people? The report is available here.