The updated Accessible Information Standard is now available
This Summer, NHS England published an updated version of the Accessible Information Standard
The Accessible Information Standard was first published in 2016 to ensure people with a disability, impairment or sensory loss could receive healthcare in an accessible format and have access to communication support, such as British Sign Language interpreters.
What has changed?
Changes to the standard include:
- A new and sixth, “review” stage requiring NHS and publicly funded adult social care services to proactively check that patients’ and service users’ needs are up to date in their records and that they are being met. This is in addition to the five stages asking services to identify, record, flag, share, and meet people’s communication needs.
- All health and social care organisations should appoint a senior named role responsible for overseeing the standard is being put into practice.
- Clarifying the role of commissioners, such as Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and councils, who should ensure that providers in their area follow the standard.
- An expectation on all providers and commissioners to identify an AIS lead responsible for ensuring the standard is met as well as an executive-level role holder with responsibility for the standard in their remit.
- An expectation that all NHS and social care organisations assess how well they are meeting the standard. This can be done through a new NHS provider self-assessment tool and the first assessments should be completed by March 2027.
Find out more about the Accessible Information Standard.
What do I do if my communications needs are not met?
If you believe your local health service is failing to meet your communications needs, there are a number of things you can do:
- Give feedback or make a formal complaint via the NHS or council complaints processes – read our guide here on making a complaint.
- Share your experience with your local Healthwatch team or the Care Quality Commission, which inspects services, as they could use it to build a picture of problems with certain services and take further action
- Contact a local councillor or your local MP.
You can also contact the following organisations for support you if you have a disability or sensory impairment:
Royal National Institute of Blind People – for people who have a visual impairment.
Royal National Institue for Deaf People – for people who have a hearing impairment.
SignHealth – for deaf people.
Sense – support for people who are deafblind.
Mind - support for people living with mental health problems.
Our role
Healthwatch has been advocating for a better Accessible Information Standard, working with leading national charities, including Royal National Institute of Blind People, Royal National Institute for Deaf People, Mind and SignHealth. We will continue to press for the government to make the Accessible Information Standardfully mandatory for health and care organisations, which would require new regulations to come into force.
We are committed to making sure all our information is clear and accessible for everyone. It is vital that anybody who wants to find out about our work is able to do so.
What do we think?
Ashley Green, our chief executive, responded to the news:
“We have been advocating for a stronger Accessible Information Standard, working with Healthwatch England and national charities since 2022. Healthwatch England's evidence, along with what we're hearing locally, led to a review of the Accessible Information Standard, highlighted that the NHS fails to provide healthcare in accessible formats, blocking patients from care and affecting their ability to make informed decisions.
“The revised Accessible Information Standard clarifies that providers and commissioners must have 'due regard' to the standard when providing services but don't have to fully meet it until further legal regulations eventually come into force.
“We are therefore disappointed that full mandating of the standard is still potentially years off, particularly when it is meant to improve access to healthcare for disabled people and those who have sensory impairments.
“The revised version does contain some positive changes, such as introducing an expectation on NHS and adult social care providers to annually self-assess how well they currently meet the Accessible Information Standard and what action they need to take to fully comply with it. However, the first assessments are not due until March 2027. This slow pace of improvements will mean that many disabled people and those with sensory impairments will continue facing challenges to accessing care, often putting their health and wellbeing at risk.
“We acknowledge that services and those in charge of the NHS funding and services are grappling with many pressures, including increased patient demand for care and reorganisation, but we urge them to prioritise compliance with the Accessible Information Standard as a vital step towards tackling inequalities in access to care.”
About Healthwatch England's campaign
In 2022, Healthwatch England launched the Your Care, Your Way campaign to highlight the urgent need to strengthen the Accessible Information Standard and raise awareness of its shortcomings.
Healthwatch research followed feedback from over 6,000 people who have sensory impairments, disabled people, and their careers.
Healthwatch's Freedom of Information request to NHS trusts uncovered that out of 139 trusts who responded, only a third (35%) told Healthwatch they are fully compliant with the Accessible Information Standard.
Healthwatch subsequently gave advice to NHS England, alongside national charities such as the Royal National Institute of Blind People and Royal National Institute for Deaf People, to make the case for a stronger Accessible Information Standard. Healthwatch also wrote to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to call for a fully mandatory standard.
What are the next steps?
Healthwatch will work with NHS England as it prepares a case for the Department of Health and Social Care on making the standard mandatory.
Healthwatch will also promote people’s rights under the Equality Act 2010 to reasonable adjustments from services to meet their needs and we will urge providers to begin self-assessments as soon as possible.
Healthwatch will remind the public of their right to use the NHS complaints process to get services to respond to any concerns that their communication and disability needs are not being met.
