Accessing health & social care services by the D/deaf, deafened, deafblind and hard of hearing communities.

Healthwatch Bristol and South Gloucestershire with Bristol City Council organised a consultation event in April for people who are D/deaf, deafened, hard of hearing and deafblind to come together and feedback their experiences of health and social care services. People attended and spoke about services in Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Bath and North East Somerset (BANES), Somerset and Wiltshire.

Attached is the full report from the event and also a summary of the themes and recommendations generated from the event.

The report is also available in Bristol Sign Language at the following link: https://vimeo.com/174488962

The main themes in the feedback received from D(d)eaf, deafened, deafblind and hard of hearing people are around the topics of:

availability of interpreter services for health and social care services;
communicating with health and social care staff when booking appointments and in urgent care situations;
services, equipment and treatment in hospital settings are sometimes not accessible.

Healthwatch will be working with local service providers, commissioners and partnership boards to implement recommendations based on the feedback received.

If you would like to tell Healthwatch about your experiences of accessing and using health and social care services, or would like to work with us to further the recommendations made in the report, please contact Healthwatch Bristol or South Gloucestershire:

Text us – text bris followed by your message to: 07860 021 603

Email us at: info@healthwatchbristol.co.uk OR info@healthwatchsouthglos.co.uk

Call us: 0117 2690400

Write to us at: Healthwatch Bristol,

The Care Forum, The Vassall Centre,

Gill Ave, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 2QQ

Or visit our website to see more at:

www.healthwatchbristol.co.uk OR www.healthwatchsouthglos.co.uk