"Hearing access - please improve this"

I prepared for my recent visit to Victoria Hospital outpatients by planning to let staff know right away about my communication needs, given my severe hearing loss.  I also wore a sunflower lanyard with attached card stating my needs. I planned to ask Reception to alert the clinic I was to attend that I have a hearing loss and so to take extra care when they called my name for my turn, as I'd be unlikely to hear it otherwise. 

On arrival, I was to report to main Reception.  I didn't know where that was. I couldn't see a sign to point me there, so I had to ask.  I told the person of my hearing loss and they communicated clearly to me.  

At the Reception desk, I was near the front of the queue.  I looked for the sympathetic ear symbol to indicate where the induction loop was situated.  I couldn't see any signage.  There is a screen between staff and patients, so I knew it would be really difficult to make out what was said, without a working loop system. 

I told the staff member I have a hearing loss and do they have an induction loop.  They looked puzzled and asked what that was.  This did not bode well - but perhaps they didn't hear me so I spoke louder. Unfortunately I must have spoken too loudly for them and they looked a bit taken aback.  By then I was feeling stressed.  They got another staff member to see if they could find out about a loop.  That staff member went off to try to find another staff member to find a loop for me. I was told they were getting a loop for me. 

The queue behind me was building up. My stress levels and embarrassment were also building up. I tried to calm myself by remembering that previously  I'd had an excellent experience at another hospital I'd visited, where the sympathetic ear symbol was displayed and their loop worked.  I'd heard and was able to follow the instructions to get to the clinic perfectly.  I felt empowered and confident and complimented the staff on their good hearing access.

So 2 staff members came back - without a portable loop - but started to look around under the reception desk as if there must me something under there which was a loop.  Meanwhile, the time for my appointment was getting very close and I'd become rather anxious.  I told them I was going to be late for my appointment, could they please just try to tell me where this clinic I'm to go to is situated. A very nice, calm staff member came out from the desk, and spoke to me in the corridor, face to face and very clearly. They described perfectly where the clinic is and how to get there. 

By then it was too late to ask them to alert the clinic that I'd need a bit of special attention to make sure I heard my name classed when it was my turn, so that part of my plan had to be ditched. However, I was aware that it couldn't have been pleasant for the 1st staff member to see me becoming louder and more anxious, due to that frustration of the flawed system denying me the communication support I (and countless others)  needed. So I apologised for my heightened manner and explained that I was already anxious about the important upcoming appointment and having to deal with a complete lack of hearing access at reception had made everything a whole lot worse. They were very understanding about it. 

But what a lot of very valuable NHS staff time was wasted over the incident! I believe there are accessibility standards with which such settings as NHS are required to abide. In this instance, that standard for hearing access fell at the first hurdle, to the detriment of both staff and patient.  My appointment was with a doctor who was very hearing friendly, thank goodness and took on board fully what I needed to support 2 way communication during the appointment. 

But on the way out, I passed a small, unmanned reception desk by the main entrance, which showed 2 signs. One was the sympathetic ear symbol.  Another was telling me the desk was currently unmanned. However, a staff member just happened to appear behind that desk at that moment and we had a good conversation.  They said yes, there was a loop there. I asked to try it out. It didn't work. They said the system was under the desk.  I asked if it was turned on.  They looked and said it was.  So I wondered how it was supposed to work - there's usually a mic the staff member has to speak into, which then transmits the speaker's voice straight into my hearing aids on loop setting.  But they said they were told the system just worked without anything else needed.  Well, as a successful loop user, I can guarantee the system didn't work at all! 

The staff member had a great, clear voice and was projecting beautifully so we communicated fine without a loop (unlike the staff behind the glass at main reception). This staff member actually apologised for my experience, but really the whole thing could very easily be fixed. Top priority is staff awareness of hearing friendliness and induction loop use.  There needs to be signage both for the loop and actually, for main Reception, so people with hearing loss don't have to struggle to follow the spoken instructions of the person standing directing people at the main entrance. 

One final point - if the location of the clinic was given online, I would only have had to show my appointment letter at Reception, then been able to find my own way to the clinic, bypassing any need for spoken communication at all! Fixable?? I hope so.