Thunderstorm pounding down while I was waiting for my partner at the hospital in July 2020. Several things I didn’t expect to bring the right mobile charger and my tablet charger here. We left our home in the rural countryside and headed out to the city of Hamilton very early. I did check my personal mobile and seeing it was enough to last by the end of midday. I was wrong. The hours of the surgeries took longer than I thought. Now the text alerted me to say my partner is out. 

A big challenge for me while waiting for my partner, who is out now but a few hiccups, but I will find out more.

Thinking about making life and communication easier for me as a deaf person, is no phone/tablet available at the hospital.

Luckily I sent a quick text from my mobile and mentioned using my partner’s mobile to one of the nurses. There was no power plug in the waiting room, just the light switch. There is public WiFi in the hospital, which is good. Oh, I wish to seek a shop that sells mobile charger than a kiosk and a pharmacy. 

As you see that I am a deaf advocator and joined the Disability Advisory sub Group under the District Health Board for over three years. Last year and this year, the meeting went silent, and I was concerned that the Advisory group have not been followed up with us. No problem, there is a Facebook page which I joined the group already, and it comes in handy for me to contact. There is more improvement for people with disabilities, including elderly people with disabilities. 

On the second day, I was visiting my partner in the morning, for it was not the visitor’s hours to the public but only to families. The double doors were closed, and there was an intercom on the sidewall. Sigh! An intercom is not used for ALL D/deaf people because they can not hear the communication and no visual screen. One staff member told me that any D/deaf people press the button and hold while saying I am D/deaf, which helps security staff or nurses to see us. I press the intercom and say I am deaf and visiting my partner in one of the wards. The nurse came and released the lock of the double doors. It would be great to have a visual screen along with voice over the intercom, and this method will allow all security staff to recognises for the safety and well-being. It is a bit like ‘video chat’ system. The other option is to have an app in the mobile phone – ‘speech to text’. I used this system during the lockdown of the COVID when I met several people who wore ‘cover masks”.

During my visit to my partner, I did not use an interpreter when his specialist performed a double Laparoscopy hernia or keyhole surgery, came to talk to us about his outcome surgery. I lipread while the specialist is facing me, where I sit next to my partner. My partner is not completely clear in understanding the medical words where I can understand because I was deaf healthcare worker for nearly ten years. My partner is learning more, and getting to know what kind of latest surgery, what type of benefit for everyone who suffered hernia to get back on track?

Now my partner is having a hip surgery because the pain flared up unexpectedly, and he had no recall hurting his hip/joint or forced to broke his hip joint over a year ago. We went through having an MRI and X-ray on the hip and the joint. Currently, he has got two titanium pins from the joint to the knees from the past. He was involved in a violent motorbike crash into a tree, and he was lucky to be alive. The new specialist confined he will have a full replacement within one-two months away. Next time, I will be fully prepared to take the right charger for mobile and iPad when visiting my partner at the hospital.

I know several D/deaf people who did not know that because they live outside Hamilton City and have not been involving with the Deaf community. There are always complaints made to the staff and some of the Deaf Advocators. Unfortunately, the complaints have not improved in some way or due to technology/financial problems.

What we – D/deaf people/people with disabilities invite any Committee of the Health Board and have talked over the issues so they can see how they can improve better access for us.

Please do not wait for the Health staff to do work for you, because they do not realise you have more than one disability apart from D/deaf. If you have got a family member who is D/deaf/with disabilities, then please inform the staff to update the records regularly.