"Lack of Sign Language Interpreter Support"

My husband, who is a profoundly Deaf British Sign Language user, was recently admitted to hospital in July 2022.

Throughout his admission to Accident and Emergency and Ward 44; he was not provided with an interpreter.  We were told there was a lack of interpreters available.

My husband finds hospital a terrifying experience, as he is not aware of what is happening around him. For instance, when staff wake him up, he can find this a terrible shock as he has not heard staff knock on the door or enter the room. Likewise, x-rays, tests and procedures can be traumatic if he does not have an interpreter to advise him of what is happening.

Each time a nurse or doctor attended my husband, I had to ask the staff member to remove their mask. Whilst I appreciate this PPE is needed due to covid-19 guidance, I feel staff need to be aware that deaf patients often rely on lip reading without an interpreter. It is also hard to read facial expressions when somebody is wearing a mask, and therefore masks can add to the confusion and lack of connection with medical staff.

As I am hearing, staff relied on me to interpret all information for my husband and I felt I could not leave him. I really appreciated that staff allowed me visiting access 24/7 to facilitate communication, as I realise other patients had stricter visiting times. However, staff did not allow my daughter (who can also sign) to visit instead to relieve me, due to the ‘one visitor per patient’ policy. I felt exhausted throughout my husband’s admission and following his discharge.

I eventually left my husband on the second evening to go home to catch up on sleep. On admission to Ward 44, I had relayed a list of important information staff needed to know about my husband. This information was noted down by a nurse. I also asked staff to Facetime me if they needed to explain anything to him, so I could interpret. I had explained my husband is not able to understand written English.

I was very surprised to discover the following morning that my husband had signed a consent form for a dye-test. When I explained this to him in BSL he, asked me, 'What is a dye -test? He said the staff talked to him that morning but he didn't understand what they were saying. I was shocked that he had signed a form to consent to a test he didn't understand.  If I had not attended, he would have had no idea what was happening during the test. I found it difficult to sign medical terminology to my husband that I did not fully understand myself and I do not feel it was appropriate that I did this, without a medical background.

I also feel medical staff need to be flexible to provide visual cues and pictures to help explain a diagnosis or procedure. I had asked a doctor on one occasion if it was possible to provide a picture of the area and organ discussed, but they were not able to do so. Perhaps pictures could also be available on menus or tea trolleys etc. For example, it would have been helpful for my husband to point to a picture when he wanted a cup of tea.

I am relieved I was able to be with my husband for the majority of his stay; to interpret for him, to advocate for him and highlight his needs. However, I worry about other Deaf patients, who may not have the same level of support. I feel there needs to be an on-call interpreter service to build a good knowledge of the patient and their background and ensure continuity of communication support.

I realize Altnagelvin has access to the Sign Video service. This was not used during my husband’s hospital stay. However, I do not want Sign Video to be suggested as the only solution to the lack of interpreters, as my husband is very old-school and prefers face to face interpreters. He cannot use technology without my support and he can be put off by an unfamiliar interpreter from outside Northern Ireland, as they tend to use a different BSL dialect which my husband finds difficult to understand.

Despite my concerns about communication support, I do want to highlight that I felt my husband was provided with an excellent level of care during his stay, from cleaning and support staff to medical staff. In particular, there was one student nurse (I think her name was Catherine) who was extremely attentive to my husband and was keen to learn some signs so she could communicate with him.

Video of story in BSL 

This is a translation by a BSL translator 

https://vimeo.com/835696004

Video of story in ISL

This is a translation by an ISL translator

https://vimeo.com/835696054