Healthcare & hearing loss, Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire healthwatch wanted to look at the experiences of people with hearing loss when they areaccessing GP surgeries or hearing aid maintenance. They wanted to learn more about what works and what issues mak eit more difficult for people with hearing loss to access these services. The project was carried out as part of Healthwatch Buckinghamshires' strategic priorities for 2016-17.

A survey was sent out and 41 responses were received . The survey was carried out between 01/02/2017 and 31/3/2017.

The following recommendations were made as a result of the survey responses:

The Clinical Commissioning Group

•To provide advice,supportandtraining to help GPs to implement the accessibleinformation standard in as it relates to people with hearing loss

•To put in place central arrangements to understand whether improvements made to support access are having an impact from a patient perspective

•To ensure that people who have hearing loss are engaged in designing any processes designed to help them.

To workwith GP practices to:

•Provide deaf awareness training for all staff, especially those working in the front line

•Encourage and support practices in making available a range of communication systems in place to ensure accessibility for people with hearing loss–and in ensuring that patients are aware of these options

•Encourageinvestmentinand use ofscreens which call people to their appointmentsas these were identified as an intervention that made a significant difference

•Encourage individual GP practices to askroutinelyabout, record and ensure their systems flag up patients’ communication needs

•Encourage effective use of the current system for booking BSL interpretersand look to see if there are any improvements to it that can be made to cutdown on waiting time for patientsand that provision for this is made in relevant budgets.

Bucks Healthcare Trust:

•Let staff know how much their services are valued and appreciatedby many of those with hearing loss

•Work with the audiology departmentand others to deliver a programme of deaf awareness training for all frontline staff

•Work with others tomakehearing loss maintenance services available more widely across the county.

No response was given to these responses in this report.