Accessing health and social care services: deaf community
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Healthwatch Leicester and Healthwatch Leicestershire wanted to understand different groups’ access to and experience of healthcare. They attended a deaf community centre in Leicester where they engaged with eight deaf people.
They found it difficult to book GP appointments. The group have experienced going to their GP and being assigned an interpreter from a different region of the country which presents the issue of a language barrier. When this occurs the community struggle to understand what the translator is signing to them, and the dialects are different.
Access to interpreters at dentists’ appointment had become more difficult since the pandemic. Interpreters are never provided at opticians’ appointments, so people don’t feel comfortable having their eyes checked.
The pandemic had made access to healthcare more difficult for deaf people, as GPs now wear masks and it is difficult to work out what they are saying. Having to use online services is also difficult as there are differences between written English and BSL.