12 December 2014
Hospital left
deaf patient for eight days without a translator
A
hospital has apologised and compensated a deaf woman after she spent six days
on a ward, without any access to a sign language interpreter despite repeated
requests for one to be provided.
The
incident was the third time in two years that Perth Royal Infirmary had been
censured over the same issue.
After
her emergency admission Sally Doering, 65, of Auchterarder, was unable to find
out what was happening or what was wrong with her, and could not let staff know
she was in pain, or even choose her meals.
Mrs
Doering said: "My daughter took me to my GP as I could hardly walk and was
breathless. He sent me to Perth Royal Infirmary as an emergency."
Even
though her family requested one, no interpreter was provided, she says. "I
had no idea what was happening to me. I couldn't communicate with staff, I
couldn't let anyone know when I was in pain. I couldn't even make choices of
what food I wanted."
She
did not know but she had a life-threatening condition. "I had lung
infections and was on drips for four days, after that I went home and was still
on antibiotics for eight weeks. It was very serious. But I didn't find out what
had been wrong with me until I got home and someone was able to explain to
me."
Mrs
Doering, who has been profoundly deaf since birth and also has cerebral palsy,
said she had still not had a personal apology from NHS Tayside.
There
have been further occasions when she has attended follow-up appointments and
found no interpreter booked, she said.
"Hearing
people think deaf people can read and write English, but BSL is our first
language so it is difficult for us to do that," she added. "I think
there are problems all over the country with deaf people not having the same
access to treatment and information."
The
Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) began legal proceedings against NHS
Tayside under the 2010 Equality Act in March this year, but dropped them when
NHS Tayside signed a formal agreement as a result of the incident, which
happened in 2013.
Under
an action plan the health board must now assess and meet the communication
needs of all patients. The board also agreed to compensate Mrs Doering for the
distress its actions caused her. Mrs Doering plans to donate some of the cash
to charities including Deaf Links.
Alastair
Pringle, Director of the EHRC in Scotland said: "We are pleased NHS
Tayside has agreed to change its practice and meet its legal duties going
forward.
"This
agreement is important because this is not the first time that NHS Tayside has
failed to put reasonable adjustments in place to ensure deaf people have access
to the support they require. In 2012 Mrs Doering herself received an apology
for a similar failure to provide an interpreter to her, and another deaf woman
successfully complained to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman about the hospital's
failure to provide a British sign language interpreter in 2013."
NHS
Tayside's Nurse Director Dr Margaret McGuire said: "Mrs Doering's
experience was unacceptable and fell far short of what I would expect. I would
like to reiterate our apology to her and also to her family for this poor
experience.
"We
are implementing a detailed Improvement Plan for Interpretation and Translation
Services. This includes ongoing work to ensure all our staff are aware of their
legal duties under the Equality Act 2010 and their responsibilities in relation
to identifying and meeting the needs of all patients. We are being helped by
members of the deaf community and other patient groups to review our
interpretation and translation systems and processes. We are determined to
learn from this."
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