BSL Healthy Day Report

Healthwatch Barnsley held a BSL Users Healthy Day in partnership with the DEAForum, Leeds Involving People, and Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (BMBC) on 15 March 2014. The aim of this event was to create an opportunity to work together to improve experiences and outcomes for Deaf service users and their families/ carers and children, and to encourage and support good practice

This work has revealed that there are a number of difficulties faced by Deaf people in accessing health care services in Barnsley. Access to health care services for Deaf people is unsatisfactory and so Deaf people are disadvantaged. 

This is likely to be in breach of the duties outlined in the Equality Act 2010 , which requires service providers to avoid unlawful discrimination and to make reasonable adjustments. Under the Equality Act, it is considered a ‘reasonable adjustment’ for organisations to book appropriate communication support. Putting Deaf people at a disadvantage when accessing health and social care services could also be seen as a failure to comply with the Human Rights Act 1998 - in particular the right to be free of inhumane or degrading treatment (article 3) and the right to a personal and family life (article 8). 

As well as the human cost to the people and their families who have had these experiences, there are potential monetary costs due to missed and delayed appointments caused by the absence of interpreters. There are also potential costs arising from misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment. There is also a significant litigation risk. 

Deaf people are not asking for special treatment, just equal treatment. ‘No decision about me without me’ requires that patients have full access to information and the options available to them. Issues with communication and Interpreters can mean that Deaf people are unable to be fully involved in decisions about their care.