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Deaf woman wins legal fight over sign language in Covid briefings

A deaf woman who complained about a lack of sign language in Covid briefings has successfully sued the Cabinet Office.

Katie Rowley, from Leeds, took the Government to the High Court, arguing that it had breached obligations to make the Downing Street broadcasts accessible to deaf people under equality legislation.

Ms Rowley, 36, who was pregnant during the pandemic, said the stress she suffered from being unable to access crucial information about the virus had impacted her pregnancy and well-being.

The actor and writer is now set to be awarded compensation after a judge agreed that the lack of British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters amounted to discrimination against her.

Ms Rowley's legal win could pave the way for hundreds of the 73,000 BSL users in England to win similar claims for damages. Chris Fry, her solicitor, is representing 350 others who argue they were affected.

Mr Justice Fordham, who handed down the ruling on Wednesday, said damages would be assessed by a judge in a county court at a later date.

Mr Fry said: "Ensuring that information is provided in an accessible format can rarely be more important than in the midst of a pandemic.

"This case has brought deaf people together in the most remarkable way to challenge the Government to do better, and to fulfil what we say are its obligations under the Equality Act. It's about time that the deaf community is 'levelled up' by this Government."

Amanda Casson-Webb, of the Royal Association for Deaf people (RAD), said: "We want to see deaf BSL users fully involved and included in every aspect of life. Deaf people should be able to access information independently and on a par with the rest of society.

"Instead, many have been left feeling unsure, unsafe and scared, having to rely on charities like RAD to provide accessible versions of critical information after the fact – or worse, having to depend on a friend or family member to explain what is happening."

Ministers had argued that the lack of BSL interpreters during important briefings about the status of the virus did not amount to discrimination, and lawyers had said Ms Rowley's claim should be dismissed.    

The two briefings found to be in breach of the Equality Act were on Sep 21 and Oct 12, in which there were no sign language interpreters either in person or superimposed by broadcasters. The other briefings on the virus, totalling more than 170, were not found to have unlawfully breached the Act.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said: "We are pleased that the court ruled our policy of using on-screen British Sign Language interpreters was lawful during the pandemic.  

"Our priority has always been to reach the largest possible audience with important public information and we will continue to ensure that British Sign Language interpretation is made available during Covid-19 briefings."

Reference: The Telegraph: Phoebe Southworth 

NHS trust tells staff white privilege is 'going on night out and not being worried you won't get in'

NHS medics have been told that white privilege includes going on a night out and “not be worried you won’t get in” to a club. 

Doctors and nurses in the NHS Northern Care Alliance, which covers two trusts and nearly 20,000 staff, have been offered a guide on “white privilege, structural racism and getting comfortable with the uncomfortable”. 

Reference: The Telegraph: Ewan Somerville

'My husband had a bleed on the brain at 33 years old and now can't speak properly' 

Mike was woken back up two weeks later and was fitted with a tracheostomy, and Rebecca was finally allowed to go and visit him as restrictions began to be lifted and Mike had been moved out of ITU to high dependency ward.

Rebecca describes seeing him for the first time, she said: "This was hard seeing Mike like this, I did not know what to expect, I was scared. Each visit got easier though and eventually three weeks later Mike was moved onto a neurology ward, his external drain and tracheostomy were both removed and we started to see improvements."

As the weeks went by Mike was making improvements every day and was on the road to recovery.

Rebecca said: "He surprised us all with how well he was coming along. Mike had started to learn to walk again with physiotherapy and eventually started saying one or two words. He was eating and drinking normally, started to write his name, my name, our address and even he wrote on his 94-year-old grandfather Gordon father's day card.

"We were able to take him outside for some fresh air on visits and he was doing hand signals when he would see us, which is what he would do before this happened, and would smile at us and show off his achievements, which made us really happy as we could see Mike personality coming back."

Due to Mike's progress he was referred to a rehabilitation ward at Morriston hospital, when he arrived Mike's temperature spiked and he would not eat or drink. He was then diagnosed with post-surgical meningitis.  

Rebecca said: "They ran some tests and started him on antibiotics straight away and were querying if he had sepsis. Two days later Mike was transferred to another hospital to be examined in A&E, here they said it is likely to be meningitis which made me start to panic again.

"He then had a number of different antibiotics to treat the meningitis, which was put down to post-surgical meningitis which is a risk of doing a lumbar drain, but it was what was needed to be done to Mike to determine if he needed a permanent shunt or not. I cannot thank enough the infection control doctors in Morriston hospital they were amazing at getting on top of the meningitis."

Mike is now recovering again and is waiting to be transferred back to the rehabilitation ward when a bed to becomes free, as this is his best chance of recovery.

Rebecca says It's been horrible not having Mike at home with her for the last 4 months.

She says: "I cannot wait to have him back home, hopefully it will be sometime this year he be back home. I am just staying positive that we will have our old Mike back or as much of the old Mike back as possible, but it can take 12-24 months sometimes a lot sooner for someone to recover from this.

"I am told by his consultant that he's not going to be able to do certain things but I am going to believe he will have his normal life back, as Mike needs as much positivity and encouragement to get him through his rehabilitation and I have faith in him he will do amazing at his rehabilitation.

"It has proved how much family and friends love Mike and cannot wait to have him back, and hopefully Mike will go back to his job he loves. I also cannot thank enough his employer for being so supportive as well as my own employers. "

Before Mike got ill, he did shifts at Tata Steel and he and Rebecca were sharing the responsibility to care for Mike's 94 year old grandfather.

Since Mike has been in hospital, his family and friends have been supporting his road to recovery.

Mike's closest friend of 10 years, Nathan Jenkins, 38, has been raising money for the couple, as they may need to make modifications to their home when Mike returns home from hospital to suit his needs.

On the July 12 this year, Nathan did a 500 mile sponsored cycle over five days and has set up a fundraising page and raised nearly £4,000 so far.

Nathan who works at Tata Steel with Mike said: "We've always been there for each other through the rough times and it's not going to stop. All I can do is just help as much as I can, I can't help him in the hospital so I just want to give him the help outside of it, so when he does come out it will make it that easier for them."

Nathan says it was a complete knock to the system when got a call from Rebecca explaining that Mike had a bleed on the brain.

Nathan explained:" It would be more understandable if this happened to me because I play rugby and have blows to the head but Mike hasn't done that."

Nathan has been to visit Mike in hospital and says it's strange seeing him ill as he's always been a "grafter" and never complained. He is supporting Rebecca and keeping positive for the couple through this difficult time.

When Mike returns home from hospital, Nathan hopes to take him down the Mumbles and visit Mike's grandad Gordon with him. 

Reference: Wales On Line: Caitlin Arlow

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Hillsong Church member, 34, dies of Covid after publicly speaking out against vaccine

A member of the Hillsong megachurch who poked fun at the Covid-19 vaccine on social media has passed away after contracting the virus.

Stephen Harmon, 34, died at the Corona Regional Medical Center, Los Angeles, on Wednesday.

His death was announced by Hillsong founder Brian Houston, who said he had just heard the “devastating news that our beloved friend, Stephen Harmon has passed away from Covid. Heartbreaking.”

Mr Harmon was admitted to hospital last month after contracting Covid and pneumonia.

In his final days, he shared harrowing details of his fight to stay alive.

“Please pray y’all, they really want to intubate me and put me on a ventilator,” he said on Sunday.

“Even the slightest movements and my heart rate skyrockets and oxygen dependency increases. and please, I’m not asking for anyone’s opinion on intubation, I’ll make my own choice, I’m asking for prayer.”

He told how he was suffering from a skyrocketing heart rate, panic attacks, and at risk of losing consciousness and being intubated.

“If you don’t have faith that God can heal me over your stupid ventilator then keep the Hell out of my ICU room, there’s no room in here for fear or lack of faith,” he wrote.

In his last Tweet on Wednesday, Mr Harmon tweeted that he had decided to go under intubation.

“I’ve fought this thing as hard as I can but unfortunately it’s reached a point of critical choice and as much as I hate having to do this I’d rather it be willingness than forced emergency procedure.”

Before falling ill, Mr Harmon had been a vocal opponent of the Covid vaccines, and joked that he would never get the jab.

“If you’re having email problems, I feel bad for you, son. I got 99 problems but a vax ain’t one,” he wrote on June 3.

Cases of Covid-19 across the United States are rising at alarming levels, fuelled by the Delta variant.

The seven-day rolling average hit 40,246 on Thursday, according to the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC), a 46.7% increase from a week earlier.

CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky said more than 97% of current hospitalisations from Covid are of unvaccinated people.

"There is a clear message that is coming through: this is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated," Dr Walensky said.

The Biden administration narrowly missed its target of getting 70 per cent of adults to receive at least one vaccine dose by July 4.

CDC data shows 68.6 percent of the population aged 18 or over have had at least one shot. 

Reference:Independent: Bevan Hurley