Accessible Information Standard – a push for progress

Healthwatch England is urging NHS England to make progress in its review of the Accessible Information Standard and ensure that all Trusts across the country comply with its legally-binding requirements.

Visually impaired person using a screen reader to access information from a laptop computer

The Accessible Information Standard (AIS) aims to make sure that everyone, especially people who have sensory impairments or learning disabilities, has access to healthcare information in the way that they need it.

In 2022, Healthwatch England teamed up with national charities to launch the Your Care, Your Way campaign which called for improvements to the AIS.

However, twelve months on, the NHS England review of the AIS is yet to be published and it remains unclear how improvements will be made nationally. We are pleased to see that despite this, some progress has by our local Trusts in implementing the standard.

Open letter to NHS England

In a recent open letter to NHS England, Healthwatch England highlighted the fact that the AIS is not being implemented consistently and emphasised the recommendations outlined in by the ‘Your Care, Your Way’ campaign. These call for:

Health and care services to be made fully accountable for fully delivering the standard
Every health and care service to have an accessibility champion
Better IT systems so that patients can update services with their communication needs
Involving people with communication needs in designing better services
Mandatory training on accessible information for all health and care staff

NHS England has since responded to the open letter by saying the revised Standard should be published in the spring

Sandie Smith, CEO of Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough said: “We very much support Healthwatch England’s message about the importance of applying the AIS consistently and making real changes. A lack of accessible information adds to the challenges that many people experience in getting the health and care services they have a right to receive.

“We have been speaking to our local Trusts about their approach to implementing the standard and improvements have been made, including the promotion of NHS England training to allied professionals such as physiotherapists and radiographers. We are now following up with our Integrated Care Board about local implementation.

“We hope that this call for the review to be published and acted on will bear fruit.”