Page 16 - Federation magazine: February / March 2017
P. 16

Chief Inspector                                                                         followed she hasn’t
hopes her story                                                                         looked back, with her
will inspire others                                                                     career going from strength
                                                                                        to strength and has been
Achief inspector who hasn’t let          knew during her early days as a bobby she      fully supported by the Force.
         her hearing loss get in the     was beginning to suffer from hearing loss.     	 “They have always asked if I
         way of her progression in the   However, she was too scared to get her         needed additional help and every
police service is hoping her story will  hearing checked as she was worried it would    time I have been to them with a
inspire others.                          affect her work.                               problem, they have found a solution,” she
	 Sally Simpson suffers from             	 She explains: “I knew from my early days     said.
congenital hearing loss, a condition     in the police that I was beginning to suffer   	 “I have never been restricted in doing my
which also affected her mum, sister      hearing loss. But over time I felt it getting  role at any time within the organisation. I
and grandfather, and once feared her     worse.                                         have been a custody sergeant, an inspector
disability may hold her back,            	 “At first I was embarrassed about            on response, and now a PPU chief inspector
	 Now she hopes her                      wearing my hearing aids at work; to be         at Bournville; there is no reason why my
story will help inspire                  honest I did not deal with it well initially.  career should be restricted.
others and dispel                        However, I started working with Clare          	 “When I was posted on promotion to
myths and                                Knight Burness, who was my DI when I first     Inspector to response, I was really concerned
misconceptions                           came into PPU as a DS. When I explained to     about the radios. Having worked at Lloyd
about working                            Clare that I had to wear my hearing aids,      House prior to this, I didn’t need my radio
with a disability.                       what she said made me feel more confident.     much but it is critical as a response duty
	 Sally joined                           	 “She filled me with confidence. I no         inspector. I spoke with the team who deal
the service 18                           longer felt embarrassed or felt I had to hide  with the airwave radios, and they told me
years ago and                            my experiences. It goes to show the            about a special adaptor which I could get for
                                         influence that line managers can have on       the airwave radio.”
                                         helping people to come to terms with a         	 Sally’s lip reading has improved over the
                                         disability. I might not be the person I am     years and her hearing has now stabilised
                                         today both personally and professionally       and is unlikely to get any worse. She hopes
                                         without her approach.”                         her story will inspire and give confidence to
                                         	 And in the eight years that have             other who suffer from a disability at work
                                                                                        	 “My view has changed over the years;
                                                                                        wearing a hearing aid is not to be hidden or
                                                                                        embarrassed about” she explained.
                                                                                        	 “People come to me and ask for advice. I
                                                                                        give them reassurance that there is nothing
                                                                                        to stop them in the organisation just
                                                                                        because of the hearing aids – it’s very little
                                                                                        difference to wearing glasses – it simply
                                                                                        corrects impairment. I hope that it will give
                                                                                        comfort to my colleagues who wear hearing
                                                                                        aids that they can feel confident within their
                                                                                        roles, their future and with the support of
                                                                                        West Midlands Police.”

16 federation February/March 2017                                                       www.westmidspolfed.com
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