Training & Development ...

Commtacs training & development were delighted to work with NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to produce a pocket-sized 'Z-Card' titled 'Sensory Impairment - Points for Good Communication'. This handy sized card lists a number of common sense tips for NHS staff to use when working with deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing and visually impaired people.

Congratulations to staff at Signature's head office in Durham who successfully underwent training and assessments in Deaf & Deafblind Awareness (K101) and Communication Tactics with Deaf & Deafblind People (T101) - delivered by Commtacs.

We are delighted and look forward with enthusiasm to be working with the Scottish Mental Health Service for Deaf People (SMHSDP) in delivering an ambitious national training programme. The service was launched in May 2011.

Following on from the highly successful Basic Sensory Impairment Awareness Training developed with NHS Education for Scotland - NES, which provided sensory awareness training courses to front-line staff in every health board area, we will be working closely with SMHSDP in delivering a similar and ambitious national programme of training events. More information here <<<.

Congratulations to staff members of Lanarkshire Association for Mental Health (LAMH) who all passed the Deaf Awareness & Communication (DAC1) consisting units K101 and T101. Well done to all.

Courses were held in early March 2011

This maintains our 100% pass rate in DAC1 for over 2 years

Commtacs were asked to provide staff development training sessions for the University of West Scotland. This proved to be very successful with positive comments and feedback from all who attended.

COMMTACS were delighted to provide Barnfield College (Luton) a Deaf Awareness & Communication Tactics and an Introduction to BSL course for their staff development day in October 2010.

'we learned so much in a very informal and enjoyable session - thank you'

We are again delighted to work with NHS Education for Scotland (NES) in planning & delivering Sensory Impairment courses throughout the geographical health board areas of Scotland.

On completion there will be an 'impact assessment' of the training which will look at how the training affects service provision and ultimately patient experience.

Level 3 Certificate for LSPs Working with Deaf & Deafblind People (Notetaking) – This course is for notetakers who either already hold the old CACDP Level 2 qualification or are registered with the National Register of Communication Professionals Working with Deaf People (NRCPD), but all have to reach Level 3 by 2010 in order to register. They will be the first in Scotland to achieve the new qualification. A collaboration between
COMMTACS & Sign Language Interactions

Project management of a pilot training programme for NES. Pilot included Basic and Advanced Sensory Impairment Awareness & Communication Skills covering nine NHS Health Boards over a total of 7 days of training. Full evaluation report produced at completion of pilot.

Further to this pilot COMMTACS have been commissioned by NES to deliver 10 Sensory Impairment Awareness courses covering 8 NHS areas in mainland Scotland plus 3 courses taking place in Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles.

A series of deaf awareness and communication tactics short sessions for university lecturers, support staff and students. Courses covered communication barriers and tools that can be used to prevent and overcome these barriers and communication breakdowns.

Andy Irvine, Director of Commtacs, carried out research for the Dumfries & Galloway Deafness Partnership (DGDP) which was a collaboration between Cumbria Deaf Association and Dumfries & Galloway Society for the Deaf (now jointly known as Deaf Vision) - the aim of the research was to:

- Identify unmet needs and service/support gaps of deaf adults and children
- Ensure that there is consultation and involvement of service users and community
- Identify funding sources for future projects and activities.

Media ...

We have been working with the Galloway Wildlife Conservation Park in re-vamping their web site - the new design is now available and can be viewed here:

Galloway Wildlife Conservation Park

More work on this site will take place over the summer months.

Working with Health Rights Information Scotland (HRIS) we produced a BSL version of the eHealth – using computers to improve your health care - this included an animated clip as well as a full BSL DVD and web-ready versions of the leaflet produced by NHS Scotland.

Working with NHS 24 Corporate Affairs we have produced a BSL version of 'Be Ready for Winter' campaign. This is now available on NHS inform's web site: www.nhsinform.co.uk

The 'Be Ready for Winter' provide you with up-to-date information to help you to look after you and your family’s health during the winter months, information on what medicines to keep at home, how to look after common winter illnesses and what your local pharmacy can do for you. It also tells you the days and dates when your GP surgery is closed at Christmas and New Year and what to do if you fall ill and can’t wait until they open again.

We have also produced an online video on NHS inform itself which is available on their 'about us' page: www.nhsinform.co.uk/about-us.aspx

Project management and development of eLearning Sensory Impairment Awareness web site. Working in collaboration with Signature and Robert Gordon University (Aberdeen).

Web site includes videos of communication breakdowns & how to repair them, two-handed fingerspelling, deafblind manual & block alphabets, representations of visual impairments. Test Your Knowledge section - 12 multiple choice questions based on site content. Being launched shortly.

Provision of BSL video clips for the Forth Valley Sensory Centre web pages in collaboration with Sign Language Interactions. This provides local access to local information to the local deaf community.

Filming, editing, keying and exporting as 'web-ready' BSL video clips for Signature's web site ...

Contact us for your Large Print and braille services. We can provide your documentation into accessible formats that are quality tested by visually impaired users.