When the Interpreter Doesn't Come
Alan Graham was 75, Deaf from birth, and a BSL user. After a fall, he was admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and diagnosed with heart failure. He was in the hospital for 11 weeks. During that time, the Trust provided a professional BSL interpreter on just three occasions. So who filled the gap? His grandchildren. Connor, who was 16, and Mia, who was 12. Staff asked them to relay medical information to their grandfather and their mother, Jennifer, who is also Deaf. On one occasion, Connor was asked to tell his mother that her father might not survive the night — and that CPR should not be attempted if the need arose. Alan died the following day. Let that sit for a moment. A child was asked to deliver the worst possible news to his mother because the hospital couldn't be bothered to book an interpreter. Not once, in a moment of crisis, but repeatedly over eleven weeks. Jennifer said she asked for an interpreter every day. Her children just wanted to visit their granda...