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Minister for Health and Social Services launches Sensory Loss Report

10 Jan 2012 12:10 PM
The Minister for Health and Social Services, Lesley Griffiths, has launched a report that will improve the lives of people with sensory loss.

The report, Accessible Healthcare for People with Sensory Loss in Wales, makes recommendations on delivering sustainable improvements in the experiences of patients with sensory loss when they come into contact with the NHS in Wales.
The research that informed the report focussed on five key areas; communication, workforce and training, healthcare standards, inspection and review and complaints, and the report developed specific recommendations in relation to each of these areas. 
Deaf and blind people from all over Wales informed the report that their top priorities were about improving communication and making use of computer flag systems to identify communication needs.
The project has brought deaf and blind people into contact with more health professionals across Wales, giving them a better understanding of the needs of their patients. 
At the launch in the Welsh Ambulance Service’s headquarters in Cwmbran, the Minister paid tribute to the service users, those who are deaf, blind, hard of hearing and visually impaired, who worked alongside professionals to develop the report. 
The Health Minister, Lesley Griffiths, said: 
“The Welsh Government’s commitment to tackling the difficulties faced by the sensory loss community when accessing healthcare services has fed through to our manifesto, which sets an expectation for healthcare organisations to develop accessible information policies to address the communication needs of people with sensory loss.
“Our Programme for Government translates our manifesto into a clear plan which we will now deliver for the people of Wales.
 “It sets out how we will measure progress on the manifesto outcomes, the key actions we will take to drive that progress and how we will judge whether our actions are on track. 
“All the recommendations in this report are aimed at tackling the service access issues for this client group.  
“The focus throughout has been on the safety of patients and improving services and the experiences of patients across Wales by using common sense along with good communication skills.”