Barking Hospital 2023-07-16 Person 4 5 0

Went to the health clinic. Easy to park. Bit confusing if you have to pay. Checked in easily at reception. Explained I am deaf. I was called to go in for my appointment about 10 mins after the booked time. Very good timing. However, you don’t know how long you will have to wait. Telling them I had a disability did not help. It was only because another patient in the waiting room helped me that I made the appointment - there was a door set back behind the reception desk from where the doctor called me. Because I wasn’t facing the door I couldn’t hear her calling my name. Someone said to me they are calling my name, but even then couldn’t tell where they were calling from as I couldn’t hear. The doctor was stood back in the doorway so that didn’t help. I would have missed the appointment had the other patient not helped me. As I’d flagged my disability to the reception staff it would have been good if they had listened out and told me, the doctor was calling my name and made a note on my notes/appointment list, so the doctor would know I wouldn’t hear them call me. Once in the room the doctor was excellent. One little thing though is the doctor leaving the room and opening the door while I was getting changed. It gave me anxiety that someone passing the room would see me getting dressed.

Assist a patient who flags their disability - being deaf. With a tv on in the waiting area, doctors calling from different doors and people coming and going at the reception desk, calling out details, it makes you feel anxious that you will be missed if you don’t hear your name called. Ensure the doctor knows the patient is deaf. Impossible to lip read through a mask. Doctor kindly removed her mask so I could tell what she was saying. When staff go in/out of the room, give the patient the opportunity to get behind the curtain when changing, as people passing the room can see in. Warn the patient that you are about to open the door.