Study on UK deaf healthcare workers frustrated by masks

A study published in a medial journal in the UK found that “D/deaf healthcare workers faced ‘widespread, systemic discrimination’ during pandemic.” I will provide highlights from the article and link it in the transcript.

The article used information from a survey created by members of a “UK Deaf Healthcare Professionals” group, who surveyed 83 deaf healthcare workers. The study said there are likely several thousand deaf healthcare workers within the UK’s government-funded healthcare system called the NHS.

One of the main difficulties for deaf workers is face masks. They felt that the UK government was slow in ordering transparent face masks.

The article said the UK finally ordered U.S. made ClearMasks six months after the pandemic started, but “they failed infection control tests.” However, a deaf healthcare provider explained that this was a misunderstanding, because the transparent masks were supposed to be worn by patients instead of the staff — patients are allowed to wear makeshift masks. It took officials months to understand this.

[Sponsored Video from Convo: https://www.convorelay.com/download ]

A deaf healthcare provider said her job became almost impossible due to masking and social distancing requirements and that she considered quitting medical work. She said she couldn’t lipread people who had a poor video connection. She explained that her mental health took a hit because she was suddenly “catapulted from a highly competent and respected professional into a burden or nuisance to my colleagues…”

Almost all of the respondents said they worked in “patient facing clinical roles” before the pandemic, but after it began, almost half shifted to remote work or were removed from patient facing roles because of communication difficulties.

The article said there is a need for policies on ensuring access to transparent masks and other reasonable adjustments.

Articles: https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n1365

https://academic.oup.com/occmed/advance-article/doi/10.1093/occmed/kqab048/6254247#238188113