Scottish Government are pleased to announce that the Contact Scotland BSL pilot of Video Relay Interpreting (VRI) within Community Pharmacies is now live.
The pilot forms part of Scottish Government’s ongoing commitment to improving access for British Sign Language (BSL) users in Scotland and ensuring that communication support is available when and where it is needed.
By introducing VRI technology we aim to provide Deaf BSL users with more immediate access to qualified BSL interpreters during pharmacy consultations and discussions about their healthcare needs. The pilot will enable users to connect with a registered BSL interpreter on their own smart phone via a QR code.
Throughout the pilot, we will gather feedback from BSL users, interpreters, pharmacy teams to understand the impact of the service and identify opportunities for improvement.
The following link below contains videos in BSL outlining the Pharmacy First Service and a video guide on how to use the VRI service showing how the pilot will work in action.