"I always feel like I'm the first deaf person they have ever met:" Deaf Awareness, Accessibility and Communication in the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS): How can we do better?

Background: Barriers to communication significantly reduce access to health services for people with deafness or hearing loss (PDHL). These barriers contribute to reduced healthcare-seeking behaviour, poorer access to health information, and adverse health outcomes. In response, a multidisciplinary working group of patients, clinicians, researchers, and charity representatives was established to investigate accessibility, communication, and deaf awareness within the United Kingdom's (UK) National Health Service (NHS).

Audit of adult post-implant annual reviews and evaluation of patient-led review.

Objectives: Audits were carried out to assess the clinical effectiveness of historical annual review appointments and a new patient-led review system.

Methods: The written records of 100 patients who attended for an annual review appointment were retrospectively analysed. A further 50 patients who did not respond to the patient-led review offer letter were contacted to determine why they had not responded.