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British Sign Language (BSL) National Plan

British Sign Language National Plan

The Scottish Government has produced a British Sign Language National Plan 2017-23, as required by the BSL (Scotland) Act 2015. It sets out Scotland’s ambition to be the best place in the world for BSL users to live, work and visit. Other public bodies, including NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde (NHSGGC), have now published their own, local BSL plans. 

In putting together our local plan, we consulted with our Deaf BSL patients to gather opinions and ideas. This included patient group involvement, BSL local events, Facebook feedback and an event for Deafblind people.

NHSGGC is already involved a range of activities to help raise awareness amongst patients and staff about BSL as a language and culture and to make sure our patients have access to BSL interpreting whenever they need it.

BSL Interpreting Service

It is the responsibility of NHSGGC staff to book an interpreter for patients attending any of our healthcare services.

BSL Online Interpreting
Communicating with Deaf people during the COVID 19 pandemic

It is vital to ask a patient who may appear to be deaf how they would like to communicate. You can do this using paper and pen or a notepad app on a tablet or mobile.

Deaf people have different ways of communicating. They may want to lip read, use BSL or bit of both. You can also ask if they would like to write things down (avoiding sharing writing tools).

For more information please refer to Communication for people with sensory loss during the COVID-19 pandemic: advice for health and social care staff in Scotland

Deaf Awareness sessions

We can offer a short deaf awareness session that can be delivered online or face to face. The session lasts 30 minutes and is open to all staff.

The learning session covers how to work with BSL interpreters, deafness as a cultural identity and exploring BSL as a language as its own right. This learning will enable staff to communicate more confidently with our Deaf patients and ultimately provide the best possible care.

For more information please contact Paul Hull Paul.Hull@ggc.scot.nhs.uk

Deafness & Mental Health

Deaf people can be at higher risk of mental health problems due to communication barriers and isolation. We also know from talking to Deaf patients that they face barriers to accessing mental health services because of a lack of information in British Sign Language and understanding of Deaf culture in general. NHSGGC wants to improve access to mental health services and ensure that they are the best they can be for the Deaf community. We have recently introduced a glossary of BSL signs for mental health on our BSL You Tube channel.

Introducing Paul Hull, Health Improvement Practitioner for the Deaf Community regarding Mental Health:

Peer Support Worker for Deaf people

A Deaf Mental Health Peer Support Worker has been employed to work across 5 Community Mental Health Teams (CMHT) in Greater Glasgow & Clyde. They will use their lived experience to support patients from the Deaf community in accessing CMHT’s and also in their own recovery journey.

The Peer Support Worker is part of the multi-disciplinary team in Adult Mental Health Services with in-reach to patients whilst in hospital. It is hoped that this support may help patients avoid admission to hospital or reduce the length of stay. 

Mental Health A-Z Guide
BSL – You Tube channel

A wide range of information is available in BSL on our NHSGGC You Tube channel.

Learn Basic BSL 

Our popular beginner’s BSL classes are once again being offered to NHSGGC staff.

The 6 week course will be held at various locations across NHSGGC from March 2024.

Classes offers an insight into how Deaf people communicate and covers the alphabet, how to introduce yourself, colours, numbers and role playing.

For information on how to book, go to our Staff Training page.

BSL Health Champions

The BSL Health Champions are a group of volunteers from the Deaf BSL community who are patients of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. The Champions advise NHSGGC about the main issues and concerns for BSL patients when using our hospitals and other health services. They also work with us to make information about health accessible for BSL users.

Group meetings are public and any Deaf BSL user who lives in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area is welcome to attend. The group also has a Facebook page which is used to share information and to get feedback from the BSL community. 

Research project exploring BSL users’ experience of psychological therapy