Durno and Abioye raise important and poignant points in their articles about communicating with deaf people.12 I agree entirely—we need to do more to ensure that patients who have hearing loss are not disadvantaged when they are using NHS services.During my internal medicine training, I learnt from patients who were deaf about SignLive technology (https://signlive.co.uk/), which connected me to a live British Sign Language (BSL) translator on an iPad, allowing me to communicate clearly with patients and their families. This technology was invaluable, and the experience was profoundly positive for me and the patients. They were able to explain to me how frustrating and distressing it can be when such technology is not available—for example, when parts of the hospital have poor wi-fi. Without it, there is no doubt that there would have been delays to patient care.I have also seen patients who attend clinic appointments with a BSL translator....

On 21 April a woman with a rare and incurable disease became the first person in Peru to die with medical assistance, potentially opening the way to legal euthanasia in the South American country.Ana Estrada, a 47 year old psychologist, had polymyositis, which causes muscle wasting, for the past three decades. She spent most of her life in a bed connected to a mechanical respirator, requiring almost daily assistance from a nurse.Estrada still managed to obtain a psychology degree, work as a therapist, and become the face of a movement dedicated to opening the way for other Peruvians with similarly debilitating conditions to die peacefully.“Ana’s legacy will live on in the minds and hearts of many people and in the history of our country,” said Estrada’s lawyer, Josefina Miro Quesada, in a statement on 22 April. “Her struggle transcended our nation’s borders.”1Estrada first went to court in 2016 to fight...

A former GP and climate activist who spent 32 days in prison for breaching an injunction banning protests outside an oil terminal against the production and use of fossil fuels has been suspended from the UK medical register for five months.Sarah Benn told a medical practitioners tribunal that she refused to remediate her conduct but intended to continue protesting until the government took urgent action to protect its citizens and future generations from the effects of climate breakdown. She said that she was “blowing my whistle as loud as I can.”The tribunal emphasised that professional rules did not prevent doctors from engaging in peaceful protests but required them to comply with the law. Benn spent eight days on remand in custody for breaching the April 2022 injunction twice, in April and May that year, and was jailed for 32 days for contempt of court after breaching it again in the...

The surgeon glared at me. When I asked what I’d done wrong they replied that they found it “scary” that I’d used the “wrong” hand to cut sutures when assisting in theatre. What’s scary to me is how easily the challenges faced by lefthanded trainees are dismissed—an experience I’ve had not only in surgery but across all medical specialties. Medicine needs to move away from the idea of “right” and “wrong” hands, so that lefthanded students learning examination and surgical skills are properly supported in caring for patients.Left in a right worldFrom the beginning of my first year of medical school I noticed that the whole clinical environment was designed for righthanded use. Tradition dictates that you should stand on the right side of a patient when examining them, making it difficult—if not impossible—to use your left hand to do so. Moreover, the equipment used in clinical skills sessions and...

Our household doesn’t rely on alarm clocks. Instead, it’s the consistent thumping of my 18 year old brother’s foot against the side of his crib that signals 6 am. His profound autism and developmental delay are woven into the fabric of our family’s daily routine, and his silent cues shape our interactions. Breakfast, a simple meal for many, is an intricate dialogue for us. My brother doesn’t communicate with words, but his actions speak volumes. A fleeting smile and hand rub mean yes, while a whine or deliberate head turn signals no.The complexity of caregivingMy life is completely mapped out by my caregiving role. Home based care requires understanding of the unique environment my brother needs to feel secure and happy. This means that after he is tucked in bed at 7 pm, the whole house must maintain a library voice to avoid waking him up. It means always remembering...