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Lack of Deaf awareness

Posted By DeafEquality

"Lack of Deaf awareness"

About: Royal Cornwall Hospital (Treliske) / Pre-Operative Assessment

(as the patient),

I was met by a staff member in the pre-assessment clinic, who I couldn't hear well due to speech being so fast and me being profoundly deaf (though I use a cochlear implant so have some ability to hear). I explained about my hearing, and instead of being patient and communicating well, they began to raise their voice and talk to me as if I was a child, whilst still alternating between talking extremely fast or too slow. I said I had no covid symptoms, and then they asked if I had COVID symptoms and seemed frustrated when I was confused at why I was being asked something I had already given an answer to.

When others came in for their appointment, they were polite and well-mannered. I believe the department would benefit from deaf awareness and communication training. I should not be made to feel lesser or stupid, and deserve to be treated with the same patience and kindness as those without hearing loss.

The only positive was my actual assessment, the nurse/HCA instantly adjusted her communication when I explained about my hearing. She was kind, patient and did all tests smoothly and quickly - whilst making sure I fully understood what she was doing.

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Responses

Response from Claire Richards, Lead Nurse, Pre Op Assessment, Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust about a year and a half ago
We are preparing to make a change
Claire Richards
Lead Nurse, Pre Op Assessment,
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust

Submitted on 22/11/2022 at 14:36
Published on Care Opinion at 16:57

Thank you for your feedback. I am very sorry to read your feedback and sad that the experience left you feeling belittled.

I plan to discuss your comments with our team and arrange them some training to help avoid putting anyone else in this situation.

Your comments have been valuable in highlighting this issue to me and it's something that I can address immediately.

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Update posted by DeafEquality (the patient)

Hi Claire,

I am pleased that this has been taken into consideration, and I hope we can prevent any possible miscommunication/misunderstandings in future.

Is there any way that I can assist with providing patient perspectives, as well as information and suggestions for improving communications and education of deaf awareness within the department or RCHT overall? I am unsure on who to contact to enquire further about this.

If there is a way to make this happen, I would gladly volunteer my time and available resources to help out. I understand that resources, staff and time are all limited right now, however, I have been an inpatient at various hospitals in the U.K. over the past decade and I have seen what works well, what immediate changes can be made, and what can be focused on in the long-term. I can send over a word document or email with feedback/specific suggestions, and useful links to aid with any training if RCHT will allow it. Any suggestions on who I can contact to discuss this further would be great!

Many thanks.

Response from Jo Dobson, Patient Engagement Manager, Patient and Family Experience Team, Royal Cornwall Hospital 17 months ago
Jo Dobson
Patient Engagement Manager, Patient and Family Experience Team,
Royal Cornwall Hospital

Submitted on 29/11/2022 at 16:36
Published on Care Opinion at 16:36

Dear DeafEquality,

Thank you for taking the time to come back to us with your kind offer of help. We would be delighted to work with you to better understand your experiences. I would be very happy to receive your feedback via email and any suggestions for training and improvement would be great to receive - thank you. Here at the Trust, we work with our service users to create “Patient Stories” which highlight a patient's experience and are used for educational/improvement purposes from board level to ward huddles. If you would like to contribute to a patient story, please contact us via email: rcht.patientengagement@nhs.net or by calling me on 01872 252793 so we can provide you with some more information.

I have spoken with our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Lead, Sophie Atherton, who would also be interested in contacting you to find out what has worked well in other hospitals as this would be really valuable in looking at ways to improve support for our deaf patients. If you would be happy to speak to Sophie, please do let me know on the above email address or telephone number.

Best wishes

Jo Dobson, Patient Engagement Manager, Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust

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