Signature have been working closely with NHS Education for Scotland (NES), Deafblind Scotland and Commtacs to develop training for frontline NHS staff across Scotland. This training will consist of basic BSL skills and Deaf and deafblind awareness and will be aimed at those who have regular contact with patients and service users.
The training was originally piloted in spring of this year and 90% of those who attended felt that they would be able to put this useful learning into practice in their daily work. We now hope to be able to roll this out across 8 health board areas early in the new year.
Having played a key role in the development of the training and in accrediting this short-form training, we will now take a step back. We will help to monitor and review the success of the training, but we will not be involved in its delivery.
For this, we will entrust Commtacs to manage this ongoing project. The company has great expertise in delivering such training and awareness. Led by director Andy Irvine, they will tailor the learning packages to meet the needs of each of the NHS boards and work in partnership with key stakeholders to deliver a responsive service.
We hope that this will begin to address the social exclusion which faces Deaf and deafblind people across Scotland whenever they try to access public services. There is still a very long way to go.
