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I requested a sign language interpreter, to be refused.

Posted By September2024

"I requested a sign language interpreter, to be refused."

About: Craigavon Area Hospital / Emergency Department

(as a service user),

I wish to express my disappointment, annoyance and frustration at my recent visit to the emergency department at Craigavon Area Hospital (CAH) toward the end of September.

I arrived at CAH following a bad fall and subsequently a broken knee. I am profoundly deaf and communicate using British sign language. On arrival at Craigavon hospital I requested a sign language interpreter, to be refused.

On another occasion I asked again but was refused this for the second time. I was unable to use the sign video app as CAH Wi-Fi is so poor. I sat on a chair unable to hear my name being called or able to request assistance to use the bathroom. I eventually contacted a friend who is also an interpreter via FaceTime, who came and supported me.

I spent a total of 15 hours in the emergency department to be sent home without a cast only to be called back the next day. I had to wait until my daughter came home from school to listen to the voice message that the hospital had left asking me to return to the hospital. Again, there was no interpreter booked for the second day and I spent another 7 hours there. I also had to pay for a taxi on both days which cost a lot of money. I had to arrange childcare for my 4 young children two days in a row.

I felt totally isolated and discriminated against. Communication barriers prolong appointments, and create strong potential for misdiagnosis, misunderstanding and non-consent to examination, treatment or care, I therefore should have been provided an interpreter when I requested one. The entire experience was quite traumatic for me and has left me feeling extremely over-whelmed and exhausted.

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Responses

Response from Stacey Hardy, Lead Nurse CAH Emergency Department, DHH Emergency Department and STH Minors Injuries Unit, Medicine and Unscheduled Care Directorate, Southern Health and Social Services Trust 8 months ago
We are preparing to make a change
Stacey Hardy
Lead Nurse CAH Emergency Department, DHH Emergency Department and STH Minors Injuries Unit, Medicine and Unscheduled Care Directorate,
Southern Health and Social Services Trust

Submitted on 24/10/2024 at 00:10
Published on Care Opinion at 09:18

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience at Craigavon Area Hospital Emergency department. I can not imagine how you were feeling while you were waiting to be seen by a doctor. The Emergency department at Craigavon area hospital continues to be extremely over crowded with patients awaiting a bed on a ward which means there is very limited capacity to see and assess new patients. This means the waiting time can be very long.

In recent months we have allocated a nurse to carry out observations, administer medication or answer any general questions from the patients waiting to be seen.

I have used the sign app myself and when it works it is a great tool to break down the initial communication barriers for patients who are deaf. This app does not replace the importance of a face to face sign language interpreter. I am presuming that you were there out of hours and from previous experience the availability of a face to face sign interpreter is very limited. However I cannot confirm this was the case for you but it may explain it a little better, however from your story if that was the case it was not an explained to you correctly.

From I initially seen your care review I have been looking into the issue of the WiFi blocks within the department. I have made a request for it to be reviewed and hopefully we will be able to get boosters in place to correct this issue.

I will also look into other methods or communication and share with the team about the process to obtain a sign language interpreter.

I am very sorry that you had such a negative experience and I will be sharing this with all the staff within the department.

I hope you are recovering well.

Stacey

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