Download Policy and Research Officer

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