The study, which follows an award of over £100,000 from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is led by Dr Anna Selby, research and postgraduate manager at the Pulvertaft Hand Centre, and will bring together UHDB, the University of Leeds and University of Sheffield, and two Derby-based charities – Communication Unlimited and the Royal School for the Deaf Derby.

Dr Selby, who has previously worked on equality, diversity, and inclusion initiatives in healthcare research, was inspired to explore Deaf health inequalities after witnessing first-hand the challenges a Deaf family member of her husband faced when trying to access emergency healthcare.

‘I saw the NIHR call and started to look into the literature around Deaf health inequalities and was shocked to discover that Deaf people have poorer health, often due to an inability to access healthcare,' she said.

‘Derby has one of the largest Deaf communities outside of London, yet research into their specific health needs remains limited. Through this project, we want to ensure that Deaf voices are at the heart of research and service development so that real, meaningful improvements can be made.'

The study will co-produce new approaches by actively involving Deaf people at the heart of the research through every stage, from setting priorities to testing potential improvements in services. Rather than making assumptions about what the community needs, this approach will allow researchers and healthcare providers to work alongside Deaf individuals to co-design services that are truly accessible and inclusive.

Lessons learned from this study will inform service improvements at UHDB, but also across the NHS nationally on how we can better serve Deaf patients collectively.

* Deaf is used with a capital D to denote people who have been deaf all their lives, or since before they started to learn to talk, and who are, therefore, pre-lingually deaf.