Foyle MP Mark Durkan supporting Deaf Awareness Week with members of the Foyle Deaf Association at his constituency office in Derry.
SDLP Foyle MP Mark Durkan has met with members of the Foyle Deaf Association at his constituency office in Derry to show his support for Deaf Awareness Week (19 – 25 May).
During the meeting, Mr Durkan discussed local issues and the need for improved health services for deaf people in the North West.
Prior to the meeting, Mr Durkan attended a training session at Westminster to understand the impact of deafness and improve communications skills to deaf people.
The sessions, which were delivered by training and consultancy firm HearFirst, were organised to improve the understanding of the different types of deafness by highlighting the methods of communication used by deaf, deafened, deafblind and hard of hearing people, such as sign language and lipreading.
Mr Durkan has also welcomed the publication of a new report by the deaf health charity SignHealth – Sick Of It – which has revealed how inaccessibility of health services is leading to poor health outcomes in deaf people.
He said: “I was delighted to attend this important training session which provided MPs with the knowledge and skills to help make real changes for Deaf people in our constituencies.
“There are a number of ways we can make contact easier for Deaf people so that they have the same access as other constituents. These include offering the options of SMS texting, email and the setting up of InterpreterNow – which will help Deaf people to become fully part of the democratic process.
“I also welcome the publication of the new Sick Of It report which reveals that deaf people are up to four times more likely to have undiagnosed conditions, and up to three times as likely to be receiving poor treatment.
“Indeed, 70% of deaf people who hadn’t been to their GP recently had wanted to go, but didn’t, mainly because there was no interpreter.
“This revealing study provides telling pointers for both GPs and MPs. It is not a go at GPs as such but also MPs for their lack of engagement on this issue. Indeed, until there is equality of access in the health service, outcomes will continue to be worse for deaf people.”
Mr Durkan concluded: “We must therefore do more to ensure that interpreters are available for consultations, allow Deaf patients to book appointments online, and routinely translate important information into sign-language.”
Notes to Editors
Foyle MP Mark Durkan meeting Chester from Hearing Dogs.
Please also find below press release for further info:
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SDLP – A Better Way to a Better Ireland
Immediate Release – Immediate Release – Immediate Release
Durkan supports Deaf Awareness Week
at a training session to improve communications skills with Deaf people.
Quick facts: Nearly 15% of the population has some degree of deafness. For every 10,000 people:
10 will be born profoundly deaf. They probably get little or no benefit from Hearing Aids and mainly use Sign Language to communicate.
20 will have become profoundly deaf. They may use Sign Language and probably also lipread.
100 will be partially deaf. They may have difficulty following what is being said, even with hearing aids. Mostly they will lipread and some use sign language as well.
600 will be hard of hearing. They will be able to follow what is being said with a hearing aid and will be able to use a telephone if it has an adjustable volume or has been designed to be used with a hearing aid.
800 will be mildly hard of hearing. They may have difficulty following conversations particularly in large groups or in noisy situations. Some will wear hearing aids and many find lipreading helpful.
· British Sign Language (BSL) is the first or preferred language of around 70,000 people in the UK.
· About 2 million people in Britain wear hearing aids, maybe another million would benefit from doing so.
· Almost all deaf and hard of hearing people rely on lipreading to some extent.
· Many combine signs from BSL with English in order to communicate.
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