Deaf Action says EIJB decision has left some people in dire situations
The lives of deaf people have been put at risk by Edinburgh Integration Joint Board’s (EIJB) decision to withdraw specialist social work funding, according to Scotland’s leading deaf-led charity.
Deaf Action is urging Edinburgh’s health and social care body to reinstate the services, including social work support, specialist equipment and preventative, community-based assistance with immediate effect.
The organisation argues that the EIJB’s decision contradicts council leader Jane Meagher’s claim that a four percent rise in Council Tax will see it “protecting frontline services for those most in need of our support”.
Deaf Action has highlighted numerous examples of how the decision has affected the deaf community in the city, including one of a woman who had a ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ (DNR) order added to her medical records after a stroke because staff thought she couldn’t communicate.
In fact, as a British Sign Language (BSL) user she needed an interpreter and it was only an ad hoc welfare visit to the woman in hospital by a BSL-using Community Care Assistant that identified the problem. The woman involved was too unwell to be interviewed for this press release.
Deaf Action’s campaign has won the support of several MPs and MSPs, including the deputy first minister, Kate Forbes.
Philip Gerrard MBE, chief executive of Deaf Action, said: “Edinburgh once had specialist, deaf-led BSL-first services that helped people navigate daily life in their own language. Those services have been dismantled, one after another, and the result is that deaf people are now being pushed into generic systems that are not designed for BSL users.
“When you take away that language provision, you take away accessibility. It increases the risk of people being misunderstood, left isolated or falling through safeguarding gaps. The Council must restore these services as a matter of urgency.”
Jennifer Staples, who was born deaf and has lived in Edinburgh all her life, relied on Deaf Action’s specialist BSL-led support for more than four decades.
Through regular access to a dedicated social worker and later community-based services, she was able to manage everyday tasks, understand important correspondence and live independently with confidence.
Since the withdrawal of these services, Jennifer says she has been left struggling to navigate basic aspects of daily life, facing increasing isolation and uncertainty.
Jennifer said: “Every Thursday I knew that there was a two-hour slot, I could see a social worker, a person I knew, and I would go regularly. They could sign fluently and we communicated directly. But then the contract was changed and I was lost. It’s so different going through an interpreter. There were barriers everywhere.
“For example, I had a problem with my gas meter. The company stopped sending me printed bills and sent emails instead. They put on my account that I was deaf, but they kept trying to call me and I obviously can’t take a phone call.
“Nowadays I have to ask my family for help, but they don’t have any time, so I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. It’s really stressful. I’m worrying about it all the time and I don’t sleep well because of it.
“I really hope that the Council brings something back for deaf people in Edinburgh – we need support.”
Deaf Action points to a further example of a deaf man with special educational needs who went without heating for four months over the winter due to communication failures within generic social care services.
Despite raising concerns, he did not fully understand the advice given by a visiting social worker about arranging an engineer, leaving the problem unresolved from November until February.
Deaf Action argues that the replacement of specialist provision with generic services is a false economy. The charity produced a cost analysis study which concludes that removing specialist deaf-led support does not eliminate need or reduce public spending; instead, it shifts demand into far more expensive crisis services.
Three key services have been cut in sequence over the past 18 months:
- Deaf Social Worker (cut September 2024) – specialist, deaf-aware support with cultural understanding and BSL-first assessment and safeguarding
- Specialist Equipment (March 2025) – deaf-specific equipment such as alerting systems, with repairs, replacements and specialist advice
- Community Care Assistant Service (November 2025) – deaf-led, preventative support helping deaf people navigate health, care and day-to-day life
Philip Gerrard added: “The cuts contradict Scotland’s stated ambition under the British Sign Language (Scotland) Act, passed a decade ago, to be the best place in the world for BSL users to live, work, learn and visit,
“And this all comes just a few months after a UK Government report (link below [1] ) called for the reintroduction and strengthening of the role of specialist social workers and sensory teams across local authorities”.
As well as calling for the reintroduction of the specialist services, Deaf Action wants the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership to publish a full equality and social impact assessment that considers the cumulative effect of the cuts.
Philip Gerrard, who has met with the City of Edinburgh’s leader, Jane Meagher, and Connor Savage, the Chair of its Integration Board, said he hopes constructive discussions can continue.
