Access to Health Services

BSMHD have been supporting SignHealth in lobbying the Department of Health to improve deaf people's access to health services.

Recent developments include:

• There will be a new QOF payment for surgeries recording a persons preferred language.  Although this is only worth around £1200 per surgery it is a small step forward in ensuring a persons communication needs are being recognised.
• The next GP Patient Survey, which will record the views of 6m patients, will now be in BSL and more importantly ask questions on deafness and are you a BSL user.
• SignHealth will shortly be publishing a report 'Why do you keep missing me?' which using this years GPPS data shows that deaf people have poorer health than hearing people. 
• There is around £5m going to PCT's to train the lead GP, lead nurse, and practice manager on the communication needs of people with LD.  The Health Minister, Ben Bradshaw, has agreed to add the communication needs of deaf and deafblind people to that training but somehow PCT's have to be activated to be more inclusive. 
• In Sept the GP bulletin from DH had a reference to the access needs of deaf people.  DH will repeat this again in a couple of months and also include in the DH PCT bulletin.
• SignHealth are working with Specialised Commissioning Groups to get them to not only commission Tier 4 services but also at primary and secondary care