Disability charities call on Health Secretary to make health information accessible
Campaigners stood outside of a glass fronted building. They are all holding a variety of placards in different colours, a mixture of yellow, pinks, and blues.
On 2 December – the eve of International Day of Persons with Disabilities – campaigners from RNIB, Macular Society, Mencap, RNID, Sense, SignHealth, and Thomas Pocklington Trust, delivered an inaccessible health appointment letter to the office of Health Secretary, Wes Streeting.
The mocked-up hospital appointment letter had all the important information missing – an unreadable letter to bring home how we, as people with communication needs, still regularly receive important health and care information which we are unable to read or understand.
The campaigners made their special delivery as the UK Government is consulting on the future of the NHS in England. Members of the public are being asked to share their experiences, views and ideas on how to “fix the NHS and deliver a health service fit for the future”.
Speaking outside the Department of Health and Social Care, RNIB Chair Anna Tylor said:
“Our message is simple – people with communication needs have a legal right to accessible health information and communication support, and not receiving it puts our health and wellbeing at risk.
The Government has asked for our views on the future of the NHS, and we’re telling them: it’s time to make our right a reality.”
Take part in the NHS consultation
Make sure your views are heard, and speak up for the right to accessible health and care information and communication support, by taking part in the NHS consultation for England.
Find out more and submit your response.
People with communication needs have waited long enough
RNIB and partner charities have campaigned on this issue for many years. There was a step forward in 2016 when the NHS Accessible Information Standard was launched, which made clear how NHS and social care services in England must provide information and communication support to patients with communication needs.
This means being able to receive information in alternative formats like large print, easy read, email, audio, British Sign Language and braille. Full implementation would enable people with communication needs to manage their health and care with the same level of independence, privacy and dignity as anyone else.
However, all too often the NHS Standard is not put into practice. For instance, during the pandemic this resulted in inaccessible shielding letters being sent to many blind and partially sighted people.
77 per cent of people with accessible information needs say that they rarely or never receive health or care information in alternative formats (according to a report by a coalition of charities in 2022).
We know that NHS England has prepared an updated and improved Standard to address the ongoing barriers to accessible health and care information, but publication of this update has been delayed for over a year and half. Blind and partially sighted people can’t keep waiting.
Our calls to the Health Secretary
RNIB is calling on Wes Streeting to:
- Work with NHS England to publish the updated Accessible Information Standard without further delay.
- Ensure that accessible information is adequately resourced and prioritised within NHS England.
- Support the implementation of accessible information in NHS and social care services.
- Keep improving implementation of the Standard, including through ongoing review of monitoring, enforcement and staff training.
Putting accessible information into practice also has benefits for the NHS itself. For example, it would save the NHS money by reducing missed appointments due to inaccessible appointment letters.
Let the Government know it’s time to make sure people with communication needs consistently receive accessible health and care information and communication support in practice.
Respond to the consultation on the future of the NHS in England