ON busy hospital wards and in overloaded GP surgeries, it must be all too easy sometimes to let standards slip.

A report by Healthwatch York into the way deaf people are treated in York makes clear exactly why doctors and other medical staff must not allow that to happen, however.

When dealing with a patient with hearing difficulties, taking the time to understand their needs and explain precisely what is happening isn’t just a matter of common politeness. It can be a matter of life and death.

The Healthwatch report contains a number of worrying anecdotes from deaf or hard-of-hearing people.

One deaf parent spoke of a doctor giving their baby an injection but not explaining why. Young mothers with hearing difficulties said they were worried about going to the GP when their babies were ill because of long waiting lists for an interpreter.

Some hard-of-hearing patients reported being left in the waiting rooms at doctor and hospital appointments because they did not hear their name called and there were no visual indicators. And one man even talked about how his father, a profoundly deaf cancer patient, became confused about the medication he was supposed to take because no interpreter had been on hand when the doctor explained it.

We know that doctors, nurses and other health staff are under enormous pressure.

But as Healthwatch York says, deaf people are not asking for special treatment – just equal treatment.

We hope this timely report will act as a wake-up call, and that health services in York will do better in future.