Rachel Duke, 38, from Hull, said she was a sixth-generation member of a profoundly deaf family.
She described how the simple act of calling her GP surgery by telephone at 8am for an appointment was not possible and she had to ask someone to help.
She often arrived at appointments to find no interpreter had been arranged, which left her relying on family members.
On one occasion, she took her son, who is also deaf, to the GP and watched a display screen to see when his appointment was called.
“I was waiting a long time,” she said. “I went to reception and said, ‘I’ve been waiting for my son’s appointment’. They said, ‘We called your name, but you never came?’.
“There was nothing on the display screen.
“Then they said: ‘Sorry, we have to delay it now and book another appointment because you’ve missed it’.”
Rachel added: “I don’t want to rely on hearing people. I want to do it myself. Equality, that’s what we need.
“I feel like we’re at the bottom. We’re never understood.”