Sensory loss & health

One in five people in Wales have some form of sensory loss. Many are heavy users of health care services, with a significant percentage being older people with other health conditions, and yet their experiences of accessing services are often poor, leading to frustration at best and poorer health outcomes and clinical risk at worst.

In recognition of this, the Welsh Government established a steering group of health professionals and service users to look at the issue. Their final report and recommendations are being launched by the Health Minister today.

Amy Claridge, a hearing 19 year old with a Deaf mother and hard of hearing father, explains why the issue is so important:

“Poor communication between the NHS and those with a sensory loss comes at a high cost and a high risk. 24 per cent of deaf patients have missed a medical appointment due to communication problems, at a cost to the Welsh Government of £1m a year. In today’s modern society, fascinated with e-mails and texting, the fact that Deaf people have ask friends to call on their behalf to book, and even to interpret, these appointments is simply ridiculous. Recently, I was told that if my mother wanted an interpreter (an NHS legal requirement) she would have to wait 6 weeks (untrue) as there are only 12 interpreters in Wales (untrue). This was after I was dissuaded from doing so repeatedly by both the doctor and the secretary due to the cost implication on their surgery.

“In my family my father, grandmother and I are there to support my mum and interpret, but not all Deaf people have this luxury. I personally know a Deaf man who lives alone, with no family nearby, who has to get by writing out notes to the doctor – wasting not only his time, but NHS time too. Also, there are families where both parents are Deaf and the responsibility of interpreting can rest solely on the young child. This may not be a problem when the parent has a cold, but when I hear about the family member who had to interpret to their loved one that they had cancer, I can’t even contemplate how this might feel.”

The barriers faced by blind and partially sighted people can be equally stark. Previous research has shown that 86 per cent of blind and partially sighted people cannot read their appointment letters, for example. Tony Rucinski, Chair of RNIB Cymru, describes the situation at his local eye clinic:

“On entering, one is expected to take a ticket from a ticket machine then wait until the number on the ticket comes up on a display screen. Of course, if you have little or no sight, you have no idea about the existence or location of the ticket machine, the display screen or where any spare seats may. Then there’s the difficulty of navigating from where you may be sitting to where your name is being called. There is never any assistance, and this is in an eye clinic.

“It is of course equally challenging when attending other clinics or even being an inpatient.  Regarding the latter, staff will often approach your bed and carry out who knows what – and on more than one occasion, I have had food placed on a tray at the bottom of my bed and taken away later without being aware of either.”

Today’s report sets out practical, implementable steps that the NHS and others can take to make their services more accessible. For the growing number of us with sensory impairment in Wales, change cannot come soon enough.

To download a copy of the report, please go to www.rnib.org.uk/wales.