BRITISH doctors are learning how to sign in order to stem the flow of dissatisfied deaf patients who would rather avoid their GP than put up with substandard health care due to poor communication, according to an expert panel from the United Kingdom.

A review of research into the deaf and their access to health care services in the UK found that thousands of deaf patients battle to access basic health care every day. According to the review, published in the British Medical Journal, the UK has up to 9 million people who are profoundly deaf or hard of hearing, around one-sixth of the population.

The team – headed by Michael Paddock and colleagues from Kings College London School of Medicine and South West London and St George’s Mental Healthcare NHS Trust – found that communicating with health care professionals was such a struggle that 28% of deaf people responding to one survey were left so confused and dissatisfied with their inadequate GP health care that they avoided seeking medical help.

Surprising statistics also revealed that 70% of deaf respondents reported being unable to have access to an interpreter when they attended an accident and emergency department.

According to the review, up to 40% of the UK deaf community suffer from a mental health issue, which is a disproportionally high number compared to the wider community.

Many of these patients receive ineffective care due to miscommunication and not being able to access the right health care professionals. However, past research into the use of sign language suggests that an increase in the use of signing may be associated with a decrease in mental health problems.

In the UK, up to 60,000 deaf people use British Sign Language and now medical undergraduates at Kings College London are being offered basic sign language classes. This move by the college aims to address the daily struggle faced by the deaf in accessing adequate health care.

Deaf health care in Australia

According to Leanne Wishart of Deaf Access Victoria, Australian deaf people face similar difficulties when it comes to accessing the Australian health care system.

“I think there is still a hesitancy for deaf people to access professional supports because of their past experience of being treated poorly because of the language barrier,” she said.

“In a hospital it is the responsibility of the health care professional to meet the needs of the person who is deaf because the deaf person will not be able to express that need themselves.

“It would be incumbent upon the organisation to acknowledge and organise to have appropriate interpreting as they would have for other cultures in those situations.”

Australia’s deaf population

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, it is estimated that the Australian deaf population could be around 15,400 but that may be an underestimation.

It is further estimated that 6500 deaf people use AUSLAN. The use of AUSLAN is a personal choice and deaf people may not use it if they do not consider themselves to be part of the deaf community.

While hospitals have a duty of care to provide an interpreter service to their deaf patients, the federally funded National AUSLAN Interpreter Booking Service is able to provide deaf people with an AUSLAN interpreter for private GP and allied health care appointments.

But according to Wishart the service may be underutilised and understaffed. For example, the Gippsland region of Victoria has only one qualified part-time AUSLAN interpreter for 80 deaf people in the area.

Avoiding the doctor

With the lack of appropriately trained AUSLAN interpreters available – and even fewer options for deaf people who do not use sign language – patients end up turning to friends or family to interpret. Or avoid going to the doctor altogether.

“People sometimes compromise themselves by using a family member or a close friend instead of a professional,” Wishart said.

“I think the general sense is there could be more people using NABS but people may tend to go with family, like a child, or a friend who knows a little bit of AUSLAN. But that is far from ideal.

“Those instances still occur, particularly if people can’t access interpreters within a certain time frame which is an issue.”

Practice responsibility

According to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners fact sheet on caring for patients from the deaf community, the use of friends and family to interpret is not advised and the practice should make sure deaf patients are aware of service availability.

“We have some wonderful AUSLAN interpreter professionals but sometimes there are just not enough to go around,” Wishart said.

“There is always a sense that more people should know about NABS.”

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