The Deaf Health Charity SignHealth has written an open letter to the new Chief Executive of NHS England, welcoming his promise to tackle preventable diseases, and asks him to make Deaf people a priority.
On the day of his appointment, Simon Stevens said he would like the health service to “get a better grip on prevention”.
The Sick Of It report, which was published by SignHealth in March, showed that Deaf people are much more likely than hearing people to have undiagnosed heart and pre-diabetic conditions. It is also more likely that when a patient does have the conditions diagnosed, their treatment becomes no longer effective.
Steve Powell, Chief Executive of SignHealth, has asked Simon Stevens to act on the Prescriptions For Change in the report. They are simple and cost-effective chains which will help to improve the health of Deaf people, and save the NHS £30 million a year on late and poor treatment of preventable diseases.
The open letter:
SignHealth’s open letter.
This letter is also available in BSL.
Note from The Tree House: If one needs to make a complaint regarding NHS and/or government services, please use this link as a potential alternative guide.
