The complaint
Jennifer complained to us about the care her Deaf father, Alan, received in hospital. Jennifer, who was also born Deaf and uses British Sign Language (BSL), said the Trust failed to provide her father with the BSL support he needed. Instead, the Trust relied on his grandchildren, aged 16 and 12, to pass on information about his condition and treatment. This included news that he might not survive the night.
Background
Alan, 75, was a former furniture maker and fisherman from Dundee. He moved to Birmingham to be closer to his grandchildren. He was born Deaf and BSL was his first language.
In June 2021, Alan fell at home and was admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. He had swelling in his legs and chest pain, and was diagnosed with right side heart failure. He was discharged in August.
In September, Alan was admitted again with similar symptoms and was diagnosed with heart failure. He died two weeks later.
During the 11 weeks Alan spent in hospital, the Trust only provided professional BSL interpreters on three occasions. Instead, staff often asked his grandchildren, Connor, then 16, and Mia, then 12, to translate medical information and details about his prognosis.
Hospital clinicians asked Connor to tell his mother Jennifer that Alan may not survive the night, and that staff should not attempt CPR if the need arose. Connor knew some BSL, but he is a hearing person and BSL is not his first language. Alan died the following day.
What we found
We fully upheld this complaint. We found that the Trust broke national guidance. Instead of providing BSL interpreters, it used Connor and Mia to pass on information to Alan about his care and treatment.
While this did not affect the clinical care and treatment Alan received, it caused significant worry and stress to Connor, Mia and Jennifer. It also made it harder for Jennifer to talk to medical staff about her father's treatment. Having to deliver news of her father's prognosis through her own children caused Jennifer extra distress and affected the family's ability to grieve.
National clinical guidelines say people who struggle to speak or understand English must be given an interpreter. The Accessible Information Standard and the Equality Act also require service providers to make reasonable adjustments so Deaf people can access their services.
Putting it right
We recommended that the Trust create an action plan to prevent this from happening again. We also recommended that the Trust apologise to the family, and pay Alan's grandchildren £900 each and Jennifer £750 to reflect the impact on them. The Trust has complied with these recommendations.
We have also raised our concerns about access to BSL interpreters more widely with NHS England and the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID).