Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made for the potential implications for his policies of the BSL Advisory Board report on Health and Social Care, published on 27 November 2025.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning services to meet the health needs of their local population, which includes responsibility for ensuring that there is adequate provision of British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters to support deaf patients in the community.
We welcome the British Sign Language Advisory Board’s report titled Locked out: Exclusion of deaf and deafblind BSL users from health and social care in the UK. We will carefully consider its recommendations, including how, in the context of our work on the 10-Year Health Plan and reform of adult social care, we can improve the experiences of Deaf people when accessing health and care services and experience of Deaf people.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure greater deaf awareness among frontline NHS staff.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since 2016, all National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers have been expected to meet the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), which details the approach to supporting the information and communication support needs of people with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss. This includes support for deaf people and ensuring that British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters are provided when needed.
On 30 June 2025, NHS England published a revised AIS to help ensure that the communication needs of people with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss are met in health and care provision.
NHS England revised the AIS e-learning for health module to match the latest version of the standard to support effective implementation. This training module includes specific reference to the needs of deaf people and BSL interpreting.
NHS England is working to support implementation of the AIS with awareness raising, communication and engagement. The intention is to ensure that staff and organisations in the NHS are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of disabled people using services.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps (a) his department and (b) its sponsored bodies are taking to (i) develop and (ii) utilise Artificial Intelligence approaches to British Sign Language.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and its sponsored bodies are not currently taking steps to develop or use artificial intelligence approaches to British Sign Language. However, the Department is aware of products that are being developed in this space and at pace. As and when developed and approved for use, the Department would welcome proposals for their assessment for use in the National Health Service based on the cost effectiveness and service and quality improvement.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle health inequalities for disabled people.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Equality Act 2010, health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.
To make it easier for disabled people to use health services, there is work underway in NHS England to make sure that staff in health settings know if they need to make reasonable adjustments for people. This includes the development of a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag, which enables the recording of key information about a patient, and their reasonable adjustment needs, in health records to ensure support can be tailored appropriately.
Under the Health and Care Act 2022, Care Quality Commission registered health and adult social care providers are required to ensure their staff receive specific training on learning disability and autism appropriate to their role. This will help to ensure that staff have the right knowledge and skills to provide safe and informed care and help to reduce health inequalities for autistic people and people with a learning disability. The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism is being rolled out to support this. Over two million people have completed the first part of this training.
Being on the learning disability register is crucial to ensuring that people receive the right support at the right time, including access to annual health checks. Annual health checks can help to identify undetected health conditions early and ensure the appropriateness of ongoing treatments. People over 14 years old with a learning disability can receive an annual health check.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to NHS services for disabled people.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We want a National Health Service that is there for anyone who needs it whenever they need it; one in which access to and experience of healthcare services is equitable, effective and responsive. To help achieve this, we have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. The engagement process for the 10-Year Health Plan is underway, and as we work to develop and finalise the Plan, we are encouraging those concerned about access to services for disabled people to engage with that process so we can identify what the potential solutions are. Further information is available at the following link:
Under the Equality Act (2010), health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged. To make it easier for disabled people to use health services, there is work underway in NHS England to ensure that staff in health settings know if they need to make reasonable adjustments. This includes the development of a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag, which enables the recording of key information about a patient, and their reasonable adjustment needs, in health records to ensure support can be tailored appropriately.
Since 2016, all NHS organisations and publicly funded social care providers are required to meet the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss. A revised AIS is being reviewed with a view to publication, and in the meantime, NHS England is continuing to work to support implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS.