What is the Deafblind Guidance?

The Deafblind Guidance gives deafblind people rights to appropriate services.

In 2001, as a result of campaigning from Sense and Deafblind UK, the Department of Health issued statutory guidance on how deafblind people should be assessed and what services they should receive from local authorities.

In 2009 the Guidance was re-issued, to make clear that it does not have an end date. This Guidance is very important because it makes clear that deafblindness is a unique disability and deafblind people need specialist services.

What does this mean?

The guidance is statutory. This means Local Authorities are obliged to take the following actions:

• Identify, make contact with and keep a record of deafblind people in their catchment area. This can be done in many ways, but a proactive approach is usually more successful.

  Ensure that assessments are carried out by a specifically trained person or team, equipped to assess the needs of a deafblind person - in particular to assess need for support on a one-to-one level, for assistive technology and rehabilitation.

• This person could come from the local authority sensory team, or local social services could request for the assessment to be carried out by another specialist organisation.

• Ensure services provided to deafblind people are appropriate, recognising that they may not necessarily be able to benefit from mainstream services, or those services aimed primarily at blind people or deaf people, who are able to rely on their other senses.

• Ensure that deafblind people are able to access specifically trained one-to-one support workers if they are assessed as requiring one.

• Provide information about services in formats and methods that are accessible.

• Ensure that one member of senior management has responsibility for deafblind services.

What if local authorities don’t carry out their obligations?

If local authorities fail to comply with the guidance, this can be challenged through judicial review.

Read about the how campaigning led to the issuing of the Guidance