A shocking new report from RNID and SignHealth (Still ignored: The fight for accessible healthcare) has uncovered widespread failings in NHS services for deaf and hard‑of‑hearing patients. Despite legal protections, many people are still unable to access essential communication support.
What the research found
The data paints a grim picture of daily barriers faced by deaf people when accessing NHS services.
- 7 in 10 deaf individuals were never asked about their communication needs on NHS registration forms
- When support like BSL interpreters or lipspeakers was requested, most still did not receive it
- Over half relied on friends or family to interpret – compromising their privacy during medical appointments.
Real-world consequences
These failures are not just bureaucratic—they have dangerous, real-world consequences. The lack of proper access has led to:
- Missed or delayed appointments
- Misunderstood diagnoses and medication instructions
- Affected follow-up care, sometimes with life‑threatening results.
Hearing individuals report feeling anxious and unsafe when navigating even simple hospital visits, and 1 in 10 avoided A&E entirely due to communication barriers.
Systemic failures exposed
The report exposes how these issues are not isolated, but embedded within NHS systems. The report highlights alarming systemic issues:
- NHS staff often lack awareness and training on deaf communication needs
- IT and medical systems fail to flag patients’ needs consistently
- Complaints mechanisms are inaccessible, making accountability rare.
As one palliative care doctor noted, some patients didn’t even understand they were entering palliative stages because no one took the time to explain in a way they could understand.
What must change now
RNID and SignHealth have laid out clear, achievable steps the NHS must take to fix this crisis, and are urging urgent reforms:
- NHS must fully implement the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), which legally requires settings like BSL interpreters and written alternatives
- The Health and Care Act 2022 must be used to enforce AIS compliance
- Staff across the NHS need comprehensive deaf awareness training
- Systems for gathering, flagging, and sharing communication needs must be improved.
Support deaf patients at every level
While this report focuses on the NHS, the message is clear: accessible communication is essential wherever people interact with services. For businesses and organisations, this report is a stark reminder that accessibility isn’t a nice-to-have or a tick-box exercise. It’s a legal requirement and a moral responsibility.
If the NHS, with all its infrastructure and funding, is falling short, what does that say about the risks in other settings like webinars, internal comms, public events, or training sessions, where clear captions or qualified interpreters are often overlooked? The result is exclusion, confusion and potential harm.
At 121 Captions, we help organisations close these gaps. Our expert services include live human captioning, sign language interpretation, and deaf awareness training to make your communications inclusive, compliant, and respectful.
Whether you’re running a high-stakes event or planning day-to-day internal meetings, we’re here to help you make every word count – for everyone.
