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"Services are not accessible for a hearing..."

About: Sheerness Health Centre

Somebody I know who is a patient is having difficulty making appointments because she has gone deaf through acquired hearing loss and she wears hearing aids. She cannot use a phone to book appointments as although she can talk, she cannot hear what the staff are saying. She can use SMS text messaging service but there is no option for this on the website. It is also not clear how she can provide feedback or make a complaint if she wants to do this by phone. The Equality Act 2010 makes it a duty for the GP to provide 'reasonable adjustments' for people with disabilities but it's not clear on the website that they have, apart from access to wheelchair users. They are supposed to identify her communication needs under the Accessible Information Standards and discuss what support she needs. For example she lip reads but she struggles to understand people with strong accents, which the doctor has. The staff should make sure she has information in a way she can understand but sometimes the doctor looks away at the computer and this make it hard for her see what they are saying. They should consider giving her written information to make sure she understands. She may be entitled to a note taker.

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