Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2026 to Question 105675 on NHS: Hearing Impairment and Visual Impairment, what steps his Department is taking to improve accessibility of NHS services for Deaf BSL-users following the recommendations of the BSL Advisory Board’s Locked Out report.

We want disabled people’s access to, and experience of, healthcare services to be equitable, effective, and responsive to their needs. The 10-Year Health Plan specifically identifies disabled people as a priority group for the development of neighbourhood health care, offering more holistic ongoing support, noting the health inequalities they face.

NHS England is rolling out a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag which enables the recording of key information about a disabled patient or client, and the reasonable adjustments to care and treatment that they need, to ensure support can be tailored appropriately and equitably. Under a new information standard, published on 19 December 2025, all publicly funded health and social care service providers must be able to share, read, and write reasonable adjustment data by 30 September 2026. This would include anyone who is a Deaf British Sign Language user, and anyone with another disability.