Reality: Whilst it is important that deaf people who use BSL can have access to a BSL interpreter to meet their accessibility needs, it is equally important that anyone who has a hearing loss and needs or prefers to use English at their appointment should have access to an equivalent service. This support could be in the form of a Speech to Text Reporter providing verbatim captions or a Lip Speaker. It is not your responsibility to organise this support but you will need to make the service provider in the NHS aware of your communication needs in advance of your appointment. All departments within the NHS are required to support the Accessible Information Standard and this should indicate your preferred communication method. You will need to be proactive in ensuring that these needs are noted on your NHS record and remind NHS personnel of their existence.
