Deaf or hard of hearing

Requesting a service

Social Care Direct offer information and advice to people who have a hearing impairment. Following an assessment of your needs, staff can help by offering advice and training on:

  • coping with hearing loss
  • advice and information about benefits
  • information on local lip-reading classes, voluntary groups and national organisations
  • advice on daily living
  • supporting relatives
  • information on registering with a hearing impairment
  • information on Personal Budgets and self-directed support
  • equipment and adaptations to alert you, for example to the telephone or doorbell
  • office visits available by appointment
  • drop-in service for general and social work advice (Sign Language Interpreter available)

If you think you need a service or have a general enquiry, please contact Social Care Direct:

Specialist support for children and young people

We support children and young people from 0 to 19 years of age who have a hearing loss. The pattern of advisory visits to educational settings depends on need and may vary from time to time.

We provide:

  • a one-off or occasional visit to the family or educational setting for children with mild or temporary hearing loss
  • pre-school support to families from point of diagnosis
  • support to any educational setting funded by Barnet for children who have significant, long-term or permanent hearing loss
  • specialist equipment for children and pupils in educational settings in Barnet
  • training and advisory support to schools, nurseries and pre-schools.

We also maintain:

  • close contact with the Audiology clinics and Speech and Language Therapy Service
  • close liaison with the schools in Barnet that are additionally resourced for children and young people who have significant hearing loss. (Summerside for nursery and primary pupils, Hendon school for secondary).

For further information about support for children with hearing loss in Barnet contact the Hearing Impaired Team on 020 8359 7729 or specialist.team@barnet.gov.uk. Information is also available on Directme.

Barnet Police SMS service

Barnet Police have a mobile phone SMS contact number for deaf people who are in Barnet:

  • SMS: 07920 700 016

This is not for emergencies. This is not the same as the 999 number for hearing people.

Use 07920 700 016 for non-emergencies, for example:

  • telling police a crime has happened – a theft, burglary or assault
  • getting advice about security – safety locks for doors and windows or personal safety  
  • telling police you are being bullied, teased or harassed by neighbours or children

In a 999 emergency, either:

  • call the Typetalk Text Relay Service 18000 on a minicom/textphone
  • ask a hearing person to call 999 or 112

An emergency is, for example:

  • someone trying to break into your home or car  
  • you can see someone being attacked
  • you or someone else needs help now
  • you have found someone unconscious or badly hurt

There is no national emergency SMS number yet. London has no emergency SMS number. In late 2009 or early 2010 there will be one national SMS emergency number for all of the UK, including London.

Some police forces already have different SMS numbers for non-emergencies in their areas. Don’t use these numbers if you are in London. London’s Metropolitan Police does not have a non-emergency SMS for all of London.

Barnet Sign Language Interpreting Service (SLIS)

The aim of the Sign Language Interpreting Service (SLIS) is to enable deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing people in Barnet to have access to social care services. This service can be used for social care appointments such as Home visits, meetings with social services staff, and social care events. The SLIS service does not cover health appointments – the NHS have their own interpreting service.

The service is free and in addition to BSL/English interpreters, the Sign Language Interpreting Service also provides the following communication support:

  • Sign Supported English (SSE)
  • Deafblind interpreters (Manual)
  • lipspeakers
  • speech to text reporters (Palantypists).

For more information please contact Barnet SLIS on the contact details below.

  • Tel: 020 8359 6093
  • Textphone: 020 8361 5280
  • Typetalk: 18001 020 8359 6093
  • Fax: 0870 889 6825
  • Email: slis@barnet.gov.uk

Hearing Connect Service

Jewish Deaf Association offer a Hearing Aid Outreach Service to visit housebound people who use hearing aids in their home. The Hearing Connect Service was set up for anyone who has suffered a hearing loss, and provides advice on coping with a hearing loss and improving communication. It also provides impartial information on audiology in the NHS and the private sector, as well as lip reading classes and discussion groups for people to come together in a social setting. For more information, contact the Jewish Deaf Association:

Julius Newman House, Woodside Park Road (off High Road), North Finchley, London N12 8RP

  • Tel: 020 8446 0214
  • Fax: 020 8445 7451

Services asre also provided by Hearing Connect in partnership with the existing Audiology Departments at Edgware Community Hospital, Barnet General and the Royal Free Hospital.

Edgware Community Hospital, Audiology Department, Ground Floor, Burnt Oak Broadway, Edgware, Middlesex HA8 0AD

  • Tel: 020 8732 6663
  • Open: Mondays and Fridays 10-12 am (walk in service)

Barnet General Hospital, Audiology Department, Wellhouse Lane, Barnet, Hertfordshire EN5 3DJ

  • Tel: 020 8216 4811  
  • Fax: 020 8216 4813
  • Open: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays 10-12am

Royal Free Hospital, Audiology Department, Pond Street, London NW3 2QG

  • Tel: 020 7472 6318
  • Open: Wednesday 2-4pm

See Me! Hear Me! consultation

From the beginning of September until 16 October 2009, the Physical and Sensory Impairment Partnership Board were asking for your views about health and social care services available in the borough. For information about the consultation, what will happen next, and the follow-up event which took place on 26 November 2009, please go to See Me! Hear Me! consultation.

Support organisations for people who are deaf or hard of hearing

Hearing Concern

Hearing Concern is a national charity which aims to improve the quality of life of people who are deaf or hard of hearing. They provide advice, information and support and strive to raise awareness of the issues associated with hearing loss.

95 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1 8TX

Jewish Deaf Association

The Jewish Deaf Association offers help and advice to deaf and hard of hearing people of all ages and denominations. It runs a day centre with kosher dining facilities, social activities, and lipreading classes.

There is also a new resource centre which contains a range of equipment to assist deaf and hard of hearing people in their daily lives. The Jewish Deaf Association provides free advice on equipment and can liaise with Social Services if required.

Julius Newman House, Woodside Park Road, North Finchley, N12 8RP

  • Tel: 020 8446 0502
  • Textphone: 020 8446 0502
  • Fax: 020 8445 7451
  • Email: jda@dircon.co.uk

The Link Centre for Deafened People

The Link Centre is a national organisation for people who have grown up with normal or near normal hearing, who then become severley or totally deaf in adult life. They provide a range of support services for deafened people, their families and the professionals that work with them. They also have a magazine which you can subscribe to.

19 Hartfield Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN21 2AR

Other links worth noting

Safeguarding adults

Comments, compliments and complaints

Adult Social Care and Health



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email icon Email this pageLast modified by: Dawn Rowe on 30/11/2011


Contact

Social Care Direct
North London Business Park (NLBP)
Oakleigh Road South
London
N11 1NP
Phone Number
020 8359 5000
Text Number (SMS)
020 8359 6011
Fax Number
020 8359 4156
Typetalk
18001 020 8359 5000
Email
socialcaredirect@barnet.gov.uk