'I had to tell my dad he had cancer': Families speak out about 'serious failings' in deaf healthcare
The daughter of a deaf man who died from cancer says his care was impacted by a severe lack of sign language provision.
Kate Boddy's father, who lived near Mold, was diagnosed with cancer in 2022, but when the NHS was unable to provide a BSL interpreter, she was forced to deliver the news.
She said: "The healthcare providers relied on me to do all that interpreting. I had to suppress every emotion to be able to translate, and it wasn't just at that moment. It was right the way through his treatment up until he died.
"In the process, I forgot to be a daughter, I didn't have the opportunity to be a daughter. Cancer stole his life, but the failures of the NHS and the lack of access to interpreters stole time from us."
Throughout his treatment, Kate says the lack of provision also meant her father was unable to connect with support groups or even access resources about his treatment.
Kate said, "He was a proud deaf BSL user.
"He was proud of his language, he had limited understanding of written and spoken British English because BSL is such a different language to English.
"He was used to not having that access and campaigned for improvements, and unfortunately, they never happened and didn't happen in time for him."
In Wales, more than 900 people have BSL as their main language and nearly 600,00 people are deaf and hard of hearing.
Kate has now joined calls for more to be done to improve the provision of BSL interpreters across all healthcare settings, to address what are described as "serious and widespread failings".
A Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) report found that seven out of ten deaf people and people with hearing loss in Wales have never been asked about their communication needs within a healthcare setting.
The report also found that almost one in ten people who are deaf or have hearing loss have avoided calling an ambulance or attending A&E because of "inaccessible communication".
Martin and his wife, Denise, are both deaf and said they have faced the same issues in the healthcare system.
"She's had to go into hospital on a number of occasions as an emergency patient, and each time she's not had access to a British Sign Language interpreter, so therefore she's struggled to communicate", Martin said.
He said that without his help or the help of an interpreter, he worries critical things might be missed.
"I've actually witnessed my wife being questioned by healthcare professionals and giving incorrect answers when there's not a British Sign Language interpreter present.
"This could lead to the wrong investigations taking place or a misdiagnosis."
Polly Winn, from the RNID, says these concerns have real-life impacts, and it is far too common in Wales.
"It's really hard to overstate the impact this has on deaf people," she said.
"It is stripping them of their independence, privacy, and decency.
"It is really dangerous because even if families have the best of intentions, they are not qualified to relay that information, so people are coming away from appointments confused and maybe missing out on really important treatment."
The Welsh Government says it is "reviewing the standards across healthcare in Wales" and is "working with organisations such as RNID and the British Deaf Association".
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