‘As it happens. Do you know something I don’t or was that just a lucky guess?’
She rounded the corner and made for the doors to the A and E department. ‘Your patient’s name is Doug Grant and he’s there with his wife, Jean. They’re both deaf.’
‘You know them?’ The name rang a bell but Matt couldn’t quite place it. Well, surely there were many Doug Grants…
‘Yeah. Jean asked the A and E staff to contact me.’
‘That’s a good start, then. Do they use speech or signing for preference?’
‘Jean uses mainly signing. Doug has more hearing than her and can usually get by with hearing aids, but if he’s not in good shape and needs to be lying down then he probably won’t be wearing them. He’ll be relying pretty heavily on Jean.’
‘In that case, I’ll be relying on you.’ Matt wondered briefly why no one had thought to mention this when they had called him down and was glad that Beth was there. Moving quickly, he reached the swing doors before her, holding one open and letting her lead the way.
A brief exchange of wordless signals between her and the A and E receptionist were enough for her to locate the correct treatment booth, and Matt followed her inside. A middle-aged couple was alone in there, the man lying on a bed and the woman sitting beside him, holding his hand. The man was hooked up to an ECG machine, and Matt noticed a dressing on his arm, which indicated that blood had already been taken.
The woman brightened visibly when she saw Beth. A rapid succession of signs passed between them, and Matt waited for them to finish. Jean obviously had something to say, and it was important that someone take notice of that. Beth was nodding, and Matt positioned himself beside her, so that the woman could see his face.
Beth flashed him a look of approval. ‘This is Jean and her husband Doug.’ She was both signing and speaking, so that everyone in the booth could follow her. ‘Doug had a bad angina attack this evening and the paramedics brought them in here. The doctor has taken blood, but beyond that they don’t know what’s going on and they’re both very worried.’ She gestured towards Matt. ‘Jean, this is Dr Matt Sutherland. He is a cardiac specialist.’
Matt held his hand out to Jean, and she took it, smiling at him through the stress lines that were etched into her face. ‘Tell them…’ Matt thought better of his words and turned to Jean, speaking slowly and as clearly as he could. ‘I’m going to assess your husband’s ECG results.’ He paused and indicated the machine that was monitoring Doug’s heartbeat. ‘And speak to the doctor who has already seen you. Then I will examine Doug and I may recommend that he stays in the hospital for tonight.’
A quick nod told him that Jean understood, and she signed to her husband. Matt waited for her to finish and turn her attention back to him. It was not usual practice to use a relative as an interpreter, but Matt also knew the value of communicating directly with patients and their families. Beth was there, keeping a close eye on him, and would make sure that nothing was missed.
‘Has Doug had any aspirin? Any other medication? Either here or at home?’
Jean signed and then shrugged tearfully. Reaching into her handbag, she withdrew two bottles of tablets and pressed them into Matt’s hand.
He looked quickly at the labels. Standard prescriptions for angina. ‘Good. That’s helpful, Jean, thank you.’ He turned to Beth. ‘What did she sign?’
‘He’s just had his regular medication.’ Beth pointed to the tablets in his hand. ‘She doesn’t think they gave him anything else here but she’s not absolutely sure. Do you want me to go and find the doctor who saw them?’
Matt nodded. She was here to interpret, not run errands, but at this point clinical issues came first and she knew that as well as he did. ‘Please. It’s Dr Martin. I need confirmation about the medication.’ He might have added that she should ask why the couple had been left alone like this, but he let that pass for the time being.
Following Beth’s example, he touched Jean’s arm lightly to get her attention. ‘Beth is going to find out what’s happening. In the meantime, can we make do with a pad and pencil?’ Matt had noticed a ruled pad poking out of Beth’s handbag.
Jean nodded and her lips formed ‘Thank you’, her hands signing at the same time. Beth grinned in response.
‘You’ll do. You have good lip patterns. Here you go.’ She slapped the pad into his hand and disappeared out of the door, leaving Matt to share a laughing shrug with Jean.
Beth was gone for a while, and Matt spent the time questioning Jean about her husband’s medical history and his current symptoms. Her answers, written on Beth’s pad, were clear and concise, giving him the information he needed.
It wasn’t that he had never seen a deaf patient before. But in the rarefied atmosphere of the fast track, he had never had to speak alone with someone who signed. And of recent years he had spent much of his time in the operating theatre, where it didn’t much matter whether your patient could hear or not.
Matt had come there to learn, though, and this kind of skill was as important as his well-proven clinical ones.
Beth still wasn’t back when he got to the point where he wanted to examine Doug, but he managed well enough, even prompting a couple of encouraging smiles when he resorted to makeshift signs to indicate when he wanted Doug to breathe in and out. Finally Beth reappeared, the brief look that she shot at Matt intimating that she’d had some trouble finding Dr Martin. Matt drew the young doctor to one side and checked on the observations he had made, comparing them with his own.
He heard Beth laugh behind him. She was making a good job of seeming relaxed in front of Doug and Jean, but there was something forced in her tone that told him she was under stress. He dragged his attention back to the matter in hand and looked for a phone to arrange for a place on one of the general wards. He could have left it to someone else, but in his experience this kind of thing always happened slightly faster if someone senior made the call.
He returned to Doug’s bedside and with Beth’s help it took only a few minutes to recap on what he had already told them and explain that Doug’s symptoms were severe enough to mean that he would be admitted to hospital. He would be in a general ward and a doctor would assess Doug’s condition again in the morning.
Matt laid his hand on Beth’s arm and she fell silent. She had been speaking as she signed, so that he could understand what she was saying.
He caught Jean’s attention and spoke directly to her. This was a personal assurance and he wanted to make it himself. ‘I will follow up on Doug in the morning and make sure that everything is explained to both of you properly. If you have any unanswered questions, I want you to contact me directly. We have to take every precaution, but Doug’s condition is stable and you should try not to worry too much.’ He pulled his card out of the inside pocket of his jacket and handed it to Jean.
Jean nodded to show she understood and her hand found his and squeezed it. A nurse appeared at the doorway, with a porter in tow, and he said his goodbyes to Jean and Doug and accompanied Beth out of the crowded booth.
‘Are you or Marcie available tomorrow morning?’