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CONSULTATION PAPER ON TRUSTS INEQUALITIES AUDIT 2011 2014 8TH OF MARCH 2011 About us We’re RNID, the charity working to create a world where deafness or hearing loss do not limit or determine opportunity and where people value their hearing. We work to ensure that people who are deaf or hard of hearing have the same rights and opportunities to lead a full and enriching life. We strive to break down stigma and create acceptance of deafness and hearing loss. We aim to promote hearing health, prevent hearing loss and cure deafness. Our response will focus on key issues that relate to people with hearing loss. Throughout this response we use the term 'people with hearing loss' to refer to people who are deaf, deafened and hard of hearing. RNID is happy for the details of this response to be made public RNID welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Trusts Inequalities Audit 2011 – 2014. Context RNID estimates that in Northern Ireland there are 202,000 people with mild to moderate hearing loss. 140,000 of these are over the age of 60. 17,000 people in Northern Ireland are severely or profoundly deaf. 14,000 of these are over the age of 60. Most people in the UK who are deaf or hard of hearing develop a hearing loss as they get older. Around the age of 50, the proportion of people with a hearing loss increases sharply. About 55% of people over 60 in the UK are deaf or hard of hearing1 and this figure is likely to increase. 1 www.rnid.org.uk/information_resources/factsheets/deaf_awareness/factsheets_leaflets/facts_and_figures_o n_deafness_and_tinnitus. 1|Page Comments Need for relevant written information in accessible formats RNID recommends that relevant written information e.g. appointment letters are written in plain English. We encourage Trusts to provide an option for people with hearing loss to book a Health and Social Care appointment via email. RNID recommends that web based information is written in plain English. We would encourage Trusts to consider the use of our Translation service, which translates information into formats accessible for people with hearing loss e.g. by offering a BSL version. General RNID would welcome the opportunity to liaise with the Multi-Disciplinary Accessible Communications Group once established and to input into Guidelines on Good Practice and Minimum standards in relation to accessibility. As part of Trusts’ Monitoring arrangements in relation to accessibility, RNID would also welcome the opportunity to organise, in partnership with Trusts, focus groups with service users with hearing loss. Deaf community’s need for improved communication and access to public services RNID welcomes the Trusts’ commitment to establishing a regional, equitable and consistent Sign Language Interpreting Support Service. Currently RNID’s Communications Support Service matches requests for communication support to fully qualified and registered (MRSLI) professionals. We provide BSL and ISL Sign Language Interpreters, Deafblind Interpreters, Lipspeakers, Speech-to-text reporters, Electronic notetakers and Manual notetakers for people with hearing loss. RNID would welcome the opportunity to be involved in the Regional Working Group to develop a model for the Sign Language Interpreting Service. We believe that we have an invaluable role to play in this proposed development. An Interpreting Support Service is essential in understanding the health needs of people with hearing loss and in improving their access to Trust services. 2|Page Need for effective Communication Support Mechanism to enable people from the Deaf community to provide constructive feedback and complaints/compliments RNID believes that the Trusts’ commitment to providing a Sign Language Interpreting Support Service will enable people with hearing loss to provide feedback to the Trusts. We are encouraged to read that the Trusts will design a DVD resource on how to make a complaint/compliment, which will include BSL and subtitles. It is essential that the Trusts promote this DVD to people with hearing loss. We would welcome the opportunity to work in partnership with the Trusts to do this. Section 75 Monitoring Systems unable to allow service providers to identify key inequalities, investigate their causes and respond appropriately. RNID employs a team of Research Officers across the UK to undertake social and biomedical research in relation to people with hearing loss. We have published a range of research reports providing up to date and reliable evidence based information that we are willing to share with the Trusts. These reports could be used to inform ongoing and future Trusts’ Action Plans. Level of participation in public policy decision making RNID recommends that people with hearing loss are invited to participate in Trusts’ User Forums and that communication support is in place to ensure that they can fully participate in such forums. We also recommend that the Trusts invite representation from service users with hearing loss onto Trusts’ Disability Steering Groups. It is essential that User Forum representatives receive ‘Deaf Awareness’ training. ‘Deaf Awareness’ training should be delivered by people who are deaf. Further information on RNID NI’s ‘Deaf Awareness’ training can be sourced by contacting Lynne Nelson-Kirby, Business Development Manager on 01612762320 or [email protected]. RNID is encouraged to read that online training will be developed. If this is to be achieved, it is essential that all staff have access to a computer. RNID recommends that elearning modules include information on deaf awareness and are accessible to people with hearing loss working within Trusts. 3|Page Difficult for any public body to deliver appropriate services on its own RNID deliver a range of services to people with hearing loss. For example we work in partnership with the South Eastern Trust and with the Western Trust to employ Outreach Development Officers to support people with hearing loss. We would welcome the opportunity to continue this work and to deliver future services to people with hearing loss across all Trusts in Northern Ireland. Underrepresentation of people with disabilities employed in the Trusts RNID’s Employment, Training and Skills Service (ETSS) aims to provide advice and support to people with hearing loss who are searching for employment and/or training and in their progression within employment and/or training. This service also aims to work with employers who want to recruit and/or retain employees with hearing loss and with organisations, colleges and universities who require advice on equal access to training and employment opportunities for people with hearing loss. RNID believes that the best way to promote the inclusion of people with hearing loss in the workplace is for employers to come into first-hand contact with them and to experience the range of skills and abilities they have. We believe that this will help overcome negative attitudes and misperceptions, which present people with hearing loss with the single biggest barrier to employment. RNID recommends that Trusts work in partnership with us and the Employers Forum on Disability to ensure that people with hearing loss are represented in the workforce. We suggest that the following recommendations be considered by Trusts in relation to supporting employees and potential employees with a hearing loss. Provide opportunities for volunteering, training, work experience for people with hearing loss. RNID would welcome the opportunity to work with Trusts to raise awareness of these opportunities with people with hearing loss and to input into the development of guidance for the public sector on work placement arrangements. 4|Page Read ‘The Don’t Panic’ pack (enclosed), which provides information about recruiting and developing employees with hearing loss. Raise awareness of the Department of Employment and Learning’s (DEL) ‘Access to Work’ programme, which is available to overcome the practical problems caused by disability in the workplace. It offers advice and help in a flexible way that can be tailored to suit the needs of a person in a particular job, or getting to and from work. Establish a Focus Group/Forum with input from Employers Forum on Disability and ourselves, which includes an employee with hearing loss. August, 2010, Employers for Disability NI and RNID NI invited employed and unemployed people with hearing loss to take part in a discussion event on employment issues. This event gave people an opportunity to share their experiences of finding and retaining work and an opportunity to discuss the difficulties they experienced in work. It also gave them the opportunity to make practical suggestions for employers that would help them overcome barriers and make work a positive experience for people with hearing loss. RNID is willing to share feedback from this event with Trusts. In 2009, RNID published a research report ‘Opportunity Blocked’ (enclosed) which highlights the employment experiences of people with hearing loss across the UK. We recommend that Trusts take this report into consideration when working towards the adoption of positive attitudes and accessible working practices for people with hearing loss. RNID NI’s Access, Consultancy and Employment (ACE) service This service provides: Workplace Assessments. This is where the employer contacts RNID’s ACE service directly and a RNID Employment Adviser carries out an assessment, making recommendations in relation to the support needed for an employee with hearing loss. Access to Work Assessments. This is where an employee contacts the local Jobs and Benefits Office. RNID is contracted by the Jobs and Benefits Office to carry out an assessment at the client’s place 5|Page of work and to make recommendations in relation to support needs for employees with hearing loss. RNID has developed a ‘Louder than Words’ charter mark. This charter mark ensures that all premises and services offered by organisations are accessible for people with hearing loss. RNID recommends that Trusts consider working towards this charter mark. For more information on this service, please contact David Sloan, Business Development Manager, 02072943712 or [email protected]. RNID is encouraged to read that Trusts will encourage staff to declare disabilities and ensure consideration is given to the implementation of all identified reasonable adjustments. RNID would welcome the opportunity to support Trust staff to make reasonable adjustments for people with hearing loss. We recommend that the following adjustments be considered. RNID provides a range of listening products (personal listeners, room loops, headphones, neck loops, elite listeners and so on) that can help people with hearing loss to hear better. These products amplify sound and block out background noise, so that people can clearly focus on what they want to listen to. We recommend that Induction Loop systems be installed in Trust premises and staff trained in their use. Induction loop systems should also be considered when planning internal or external events. It is imperative that these systems are operational and that staff know how to use them. To support communication for people with hearing loss, RNID recommends that Trusts consider the use of: 1) SMS (text messaging), email and fax 2) Textphones 3) Text Relay (formerly TypeTalk), a text relay service operated by BT (www.textrelay.org) 4) TalkByText for Windows, a business software program that provides staff with real-time text on their computers and allows 6|Page them to have conversations with landline and mobile textphones (www.ict.rnid.org.uk). RNID provides training in the use of this software. 5) TalkByText Web Edition, a business software program that provides staff with real-time text calls over the internet at or away from their computers (www.ict.rnid.org.uk). RNID provides training in the use of this software. RNID sells a range of textphones. BT also rents them. For further information about textphones and TalkByText, please contact: RNID Products 1 Haddonbrook Business Centre Orton Southgate Peterborough PE2 6YX Telephone 01733 361199 Textphone 01733 238020 Fax 01733 361161 Email: [email protected] For further information about TypeTalk, please contact: RNID TypeTalk Customer Service Team PO Box 284 Liverpool L69 3UZ Telephone: 0800 7311 888 Textphone: 18001 0800 500 888. (Monday-Friday 8am-8pm, Saturday-Sunday 9am-5pm) Fax: 0151 709 8119 Email: [email protected] We also recommend that Trusts consider the use of: written information a facility for taking and exchanging written notes information displayed on a computer screen These reasonable adjustments in conjunction with consideration of environmental factors (such as good lighting, good acoustics and so on) 7|Page can support communication and ensure accessibility for people with hearing loss within the Trust. RNID believes it is important to highlight that Trust staff should be aware that there are varying forms and levels of hearing loss. What might be a reasonable adjustment for a person with tinnitus or reduced hearing might not be a reasonable adjustment for someone who is profoundly deaf. Whatever adjustments are made, we recommend that they are widely advertised and promoted to people with hearing loss and that staff are trained in their use. Disability Action Plan RNID recommends that the recommendations outlined in the Department’s Disability Action Plan are implemented. Regional Framework on the Employment of Disabled People RNID recommends that the recommendations outlined in the Trusts’ Regional Framework on the Employment of Disabled People are implemented. Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy RNID recommends that the recommendations relating to Trusts outlined in the Department’s Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy are implemented. Conclusion RNID would welcome the opportunity to discuss any of the comments made in this document with relevant Trust staff. We are also keen to work in partnership with Trusts to ensure a better quality of life for people with hearing loss. We believe it important that Trust staff engage in dialogue with us, with the deaf community and with other organisations representing the interests of people with hearing loss. 8|Page Contact details Sharon Redmond Policy and Research Officer RNID Northern Ireland Wilton House 5 College Square North Belfast BT1 6AR Telephone: 028 90239619 Textphone: 028 90239619 Text Answerphone: 028 90312033 TalkByText: 02072968001 Ext 2754 Fax: 028 90312032 Email: [email protected] Website: www.rnid.org.uk 9|Page