Maria McCann,<\/span>North east reporter<\/span> and <\/span><\/p>\n Auryn Cox,<\/span>BBC News NI<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n A health trust has apologised to a deaf couple after hospital staff did not know what a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter was.<\/p>\n Colleen Agnew’s husband was taken to hospital recently after an episode in which he was struggling to breathe, due to underlying health issues, at their home in Kilrea, County Londonderry. <\/p>\n Her son notified Causeway Hospital of their communication needs ahead of their arrival, but they were met with confusion upon arrival, Mrs Agnew said.<\/p>\n Apologising for the “distress caused”, the Northern Trust said information on booking BSL interpreters is regularly provided to staff and a reminder would be issued as a result of this incident.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The trust also said lanyards have been introduced which patients can wear to indicate they may need additional communication support.<\/p>\n The NHS has a legal responsibility<\/a> to ensure its services are accessible to everyone, including the provision of interpreters. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mrs Agnew’s first language is BSL.<\/p>\n Upon arrival at hospital, she typed her request for an interpreter on her phone. <\/p>\n But the receptionist asked, ‘What is a BSL interpreter?’, Mrs Agnew said.<\/p>\n “They had no idea about deafness. They had no real incentive to try and sort out this problem. They just sort of froze.”<\/p>\n Mrs Agnew said she noted posters in reception about multiple language interpreters but none for BSL. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Not having access to an interpreter led to the couple being left, “worried”, for two hours at the hospital, their daughter, Susannah Agnew, said.<\/p>\n Mrs Agnew eventually obtained an interpreter, using her own contacts. <\/p>\n “I felt really rushed and panicked… my main priority was to make sure my husband was OK,” she said.<\/p>\n “All my anxieties disappeared whenever I finally got an interpreter into the hospital. It means that I could finally communicate, I could finally understand what was going on.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n People who are born profoundly deaf, meaning they have little or no hearing, often rely on sign language rather than speech to communicate.<\/p>\n A BSL interpreter helps translate sign language into spoken language and vice versa.<\/p>\n Estimates for the number of BSL and Irish Sign Language (ISL) users in Northern Ireland vary widely.<\/p>\n A 2020 Stormont study<\/a> said there may be as many as 18,000 people who use BSL or ISL.<\/p>\n While the Department of Health<\/a> says approximately 8,000 people in Northern Ireland use either type of sign language.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The couple’s children often have to help their parents, in terms of communication and phone calls. <\/p>\n Their daughter told BBC News NI that the communication barriers deaf people face are unfair. <\/p>\n Even before they attended hospital, Mrs Agnew said they experienced issues trying to contact the emergency services via a specialist app, set up in 2022.<\/a><\/p>\n The 999 BSL app, which connects users with an interpreter to relay emergency calls, repeatedly cut out when she tried to use it, she said.<\/p>\n![\"BBC](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/41de\/live\/1f253070-c6d5-11f0-bf7a-cbfc39d11259.jpg.webp\")
BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n‘No idea about deafness’ <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
How many people use BSL?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Communication barriers <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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