SignHealth report: Review of the NHS Accessible Information Standard

SignHealth is part of a coalition of charities that asked people to share their experience of accessing the NHS. The report reviews the implementation of the  NHS Accessible Information Standard (AIS), amplifies the voice of patients, and uncovers issues from the perspective of both providers and patients.  

The AIS was introduced five years ago for NHS care and publicly funded adult social care services to identify, record, and meet the communication needs of patients and service users with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss.   

The survey of over 900 patients and NHS professionals uncovered serious gaps in implementation and communication provisions for disabled patients.  

  • Only 1 in 10 disabled patients indicated having equitable access to the NHS, and only 7 per cent of Deaf people.  
  • 81 per cent of disabled patients reported having an appointment when their communication needs were unmet. Half of Deaf people told us their needs were rarely or never met. 
  • Training linked to the AIS has never been provided at over a third of health services, rising to 54 per cent in hospitals and health clinics surveyed. 

It is well known that poor access, misunderstandings, and communication barriers leads to poorer health outcomes for Deaf people, because of SignHealth’s work on the Sick Of It report, 2014.  

Responses from disabled patients highlighted how poor communication has led to misdiagnosis and/or improper treatment, missed appointments and patients unable to make informed decisions about their own healthcare and treatment. Many Deaf people told us they don’t seek medical attention when they need it due to the exhausting struggle fighting for British Sign Language interpreters to be present at appointments and operations. Ultimately, this leads to serious health inequalities. 

This report provides clear evidence that Deaf and other disabled people are being excluded from public services. It is unacceptable for only 1 in 10 disabled people to have equitable access to healthcare, particularly when the right to do so is protected in law. This has to change.

SignHealth and the other charities involved in this report are ready to help fix it. Will the NHS work with us to do that? 

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