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🏥 BBC Health • Thursday, February 12, 2026
⚡ Key Highlights
- Teenage boy asked to deliver life-threatening news to deaf mother
- Hospital staff failed to follow national guidance on interpreting for deaf patients
- Deaf patient’s family suffered significant distress due to poor communication
- Hospital trust ordered to create action plan and pay compensation
A teenage boy was asked to tell his deaf mother that her father might die, an ombudsman found. The University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust failed to follow national guidance by using children to interpret critical medical information for their deaf family members. Alan Graham, who was born deaf, died in September 2021 after being treated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. His daughter, Jennifer Petty, complained about her father’s care and the use of her children as interpreters. The ombudsman discovered clinicians asked Petty’s son to explain that his grandfather might not survive and CPR should not be attempted. The hospital trust was told to draw up an action plan and pay compensation to the family.
🏷️ Keywords:
deaf hospital NHS ombudsman medical negligence communication British Sign Language
Original Source: BBC Health
