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Annual Report and Financial Statements 2015–16
Deaf awareness
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We believe that people’s communication needs are key, so we provide practical help.
We provided 161 deaf awareness training sessions to voluntary, private and publicsector organisations. We also carried out 195 work-based assessments, where we
advised employers on how best to support staff with hearing loss.
•
We re-awarded our Louder Than Words charter mark to 25 organisations, including
HM Passport Office, London Borough of Redbridge, Northampton Borough Council
and Victim Support. We also awarded it for the first time to Wessex Water Operations,
B3 Living, Circle Housing Mercian and the Scottish Parliament.
“The course was very informative and very well presented by our trainer. It
made you sit back and think about how deaf people should not be treated any
differently to people who aren’t deaf”
Elim Housing participant on deaf awareness training course
Access to healthcare, employment and technology
People with hearing loss are often excluded or face barriers when accessing services.
There’s still a real lack of awareness, and only limited knowledge about how best to
communicate with someone with hearing loss. That’s why we’re calling on the UK
governments to take stronger action to improve the situation.
Our impact
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In June, following our extensive support and inputs, NHS England published an
Accessible Information Standard, making it mandatory for NHS and adult social-care
services in England to identify, record, share and meet the communication needs of
people with hearing loss from 31 July 2016. Together with other charities, we’ve worked
closely with NHS England, as part of its Accessible Information Advisory Gr oup, to
decide how the standard will be met. We’ve also worked on the equivalent standards
across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
“When I had my kidney transplant six years ago I remember
very well the total desperation to have my hearing aids
returned to me after surgery. For 12 hours, all I could see
were people’s mouths moving – but no sound. They had
lost both my hearing aids. It was the most frightening and
daunting experience in my life.”
Melissa Walters, Essex