Regional Communication Support Service
The Regional Communication Support Service is for people who are accessing health and social care services and are:
- d/Deaf,
- deafblind, or
- Hard of Hearing
This service is free and provides a range of interpreting services, including:
- in person interpreting services for British Sign Language (BSL) and Irish Sign Language (ISL) users,
- remote interpreting services (remote: Video Relay Interpreting and Video Interpretation) for British Sign Language (BSL) and Irish Sign Language (ISL) users,
- interpreters for deafblind people,
- Lipspeakers,
- Electronic Note takers, and
- Speech to Text Reporting
Examples of Health and Social Care services include HSC Northern Ireland primary and secondary care services. For example, appointments with:
- GPs,
- Dentists,
- Pharmacists,
- Opticians,
- Optometrists,
- As an inpatient or outpatient at hospital
- Social workers, and
- Other Health and Social Care services
The Regional Communication Support Service is commissioned by the Strategic Planning and Performance Group and provided by Sign Language Interactions. The range of interpretation services can be booked for free via a central booking system, by Health and Social Care Professionals.