Deafness Support Network welcomes planned reforms to GP surgeries

The Northwest’s leading deafness charity Deafness Support Network (DSN), has welcomed David Cameron’s recent announcement of planned reforms to GP surgeries, suggesting it could change the lives of more than ten million people in the UK who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Through a £50m GP Access Fund more than 7.5 million people throughout the UK will benefit from longer opening hours and making the most of existing technology, such as email and Skype.

Gill Reeder, Operations Manager at DSN, said: “Accessibility to GP surgeries for deaf people has long been a problem that we’ve been working hard to improve, so this is great news.

“Being able to book appointments by email and ‘visit’ the GP via Skype will literally be life-changing for many deaf people. Visiting the doctor is daunting at the best of times but for deaf people simply booking an appointment can prove almost impossible. We must remember that these individuals have the same health issues as everybody else.

“There’s still a long way to go to make NHS services at GP surgeries more easily available and accessible but these reforms are certainly a step in the right direction.”

The plans for changes to GP practices will particularly benefit the elderly, with services being tailored to accommodate the over 75s. More in-home visits will be available and technology will be used to enable patients to send their doctors information and GPs being able to monitor their patients remotely. 

With more than 70% of over 70 year-olds having some form of hearing loss, this is key to ensure that those affected by age related hearing loss receive essential health care. 

DSN is due to launch a campaign to encourage deaf awareness in GP surgeries across Cheshire later this month.

Gill Reeder adds: “We’re about to launch ‘Life or Deaf Matters’ a project in which we’ll be auditing GP practices throughout Cheshire, assessing their equality of access for deaf individuals and awarding deaf friendly surgeries with a new accreditation.

“It’s easy to ignore how difficult common activities, like going to the doctors, are for deaf people and our campaign seeks to highlight the need for deaf aware GP staff who can properly accommodate patients with hearing issues.

“As the new changes are implemented, it will be interesting to see to what extent the reforms will affect our findings over the next couple of years.”

Source: http://www.dsnonline.co.uk/