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Natasha Wilcock

Natasha Tash is a deaf doctor who shares the importance of understanding the unique needs of deaf people and appreciating deaf staff as an asset to our healthcare system.

Moving beyond deaf awareness to deaf insight

In the UK 1 in 4 adults are deaf, rising to 80% in the over 70s. Yet healthcare professionals do not routinely receive any formal teaching on supporting deaf communication.

Tash is a deaf doctor who shares the importance of understanding the unique needs of deaf people and appreciating deaf staff as an asset to our healthcare system. With special thanks to Darren who provided BSL interpreting at the live event.

Natasha is a pioneering palliative care doctor working in London, working in a hospice. As a deaf professional, she has firsthand experience of the challenges faced by deaf patients within healthcare systems. This inspired her to establish IDA, an organisation dedicated to transforming the healthcare experience for deaf individuals. Natasha’s journey in medicine was marked by overcoming significant barriers, proving that deaf individuals can excel as doctors. Her work focuses on ensuring deaf people, both staff and patients, have access to healthcare services including not only care and education but all services in and around the NHS and particularly focuses on ensuring inclusive palliative care for deaf people.