Improving services for deaf patients in enfield
Download (PDF 3.3 MB)Summary of report content
Working closely with Enfield Disability Action (EDA), Healthwatch Enfield has attended a range of settings to listen to Deaf people’s accounts of their experiences of health services across Enfield.
Staff and volunteers at EDA have shared their personal and professional experiences with Healthwatch of what it is currently like to be a Deaf patient in Enfield and of the barriers to accessing health provision that they face. EDA have welcomed Healthwatch to their Deaf Project user focus groups and meetings to collate experiences from a range of individuals within the local Deaf community.
Healthwatch has also collected experiences of Deaf individuals at local ‘pop-up’ stalls and events, and through the use of an online survey.
The report focuses on the experiences of individuals who are profoundly Deaf and who use British Sign Language (BSL) as their first language, as these individuals face the greatest barriers in accessing services. The report highlights 4 themes following the findings relating to accessing BSL interpreters, lack of awareness amongst health staff, accessing services and information, patient participation.
The report contains 18 recommendations.