Healthwatch Bucks: Experiences of visiting the GP surgery when you are Deaf/deaf or have a hearing loss

Overview

Healthwatch Bucks wants to hear from people with any form of hearing loss about their experiences of booking and attending appointments at their GP surgery in Buckinghamshire.

Hearing loss affects many of us

According to hearing loss charity the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), 12 million adults in the UK – one in five of us – have hearing loss greater than 25 dBHL.

dBHL is a way to describe a person’s hearing loss in decibels. 25 dBHL is the level that indicates mild hearing loss.

Around 10% of people with hearing loss in the UK have severe hearing loss or are Deaf. Meanwhile, 25,000 people in the UK are thought to use British Sign Language (BSL) as their main language.

RNID estimates that the number of UK adults with hearing loss above 25 dBHL will rise to 14.2 million by 2035. This is linked to our ageing population: more than 40% of over-50s report some hearing loss, as do 70% of people over 70.

Census data shows that almost 20% of people living in Buckinghamshire are over 65. Therefore, it’s likely there are many people in our county with various degrees of hearing loss.

For more information and to take part, please click on the link at the bottom of the page.

Healthwatch Bucks

Healthwatch Bucks is the county’s independent health and social care champion. We exist to ensure that people are at the heart of care.

Teams of staff and volunteers listen to what people like about local health and social care services, and what could be improved.

These views are then shared with the decision-making organisations, so together a real difference can be made.

What happens next

We will write a report that includes recommendations for improving services for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing.

This will be shared with service providers, policymakers and commissioners who will be asked to respond to our findings.

A report will be published on the Healthwatch Bucks website. The results will be anonymised, and individual responses will not be shared. This survey does not collect any data that can be used to identify you.

If you have any questions about this survey, please contact info@healthwatchbucks.co.uk or ring 01494 32 48 32.

Privacy

Please review the Healthwatch Bucks data protection policy. By completing this form, you agree that you have read and understood the privacy information provided, and confirm you are over 18.

Your email address will not be published.