The Sensory Impairment Team is part of Care and Support – Adults; in the People directorate of Bristol City Council.

We are a citywide team, working with Bristol citizens who are over 18 and are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Deafened, Deafblind or Visually Impaired.

As an adult care social services team, we provide advice, information, support and assessments in line with the Care Act 2014. Our focus is to inform, advise and support people to live independent lives, which support their wellbeing:

• We work with citizens to identify their strengths and support networks, and explore how they can obtain any extra input to enhance their independence – ‘helping you to help yourself’.
• This can involve signposting the person to other services, who can provide advice and support on a short-term basis; or by us providing specific help during our Drop-In sessions – ‘help when you need it’
• We can offer advice and information on equipment and Assistive Technology to help maintain independence; and can, with the person’s permission, refer on to RNIB for help acquiring or relearning independence skills following sight-loss.
• Some people may have longer term needs for care and support; and we will arrange for a Care Act Assessment and/or a Carers Assessment, to identify the best avenues for that support.
• Where appropriate we work in partnership with other agencies such as Health, Education, Housing, Police and Voluntary Sector Organisations. We always explain to people how their personal information will be stored by us and the circumstances in which it will be shared (GDPR).

We currently provide drop in sessions for deaf people three times a week at the Bristol Community Links South in Knowle (every Monday, 10:00am-12:00pm),  Bedminster Library (every Wednesday 10:00am-11:30am & every Friday, 13:30pm-15:30pm).  This is to support deaf citizens with any paperwork that they don’t understand, such as letters, bills, etc. We can also make phone calls on their behalf to any service providers; and refer them on to appropriate service providers, where necessary.

In addition to the drop in sessions, we can offer appointments if the issue is complex or might need a bit of extra time. The staff in the Drop-In sessions are primarily deaf BSL users with a BSL/English interpreter available for phone calls etc. To make an appointment please text 07775 646671 and we will confirm a date and time.

For more information, please contact: Tel: 0117 9036648, Fax: 0117 9224530, Textphone: 0117 9224532, SMS: 0777 5646671, Email: sensory.impairment@bristol.gov.uk 

Please note: If you have serious emergency you can contact the Emergency Duty Team using the contact details below:

Tel: 01454 615165
Text phone: 01454 618966
Fax: 01454 868407
Email: emergencydutyteam@southglos.gov.uk