Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure the change.nhs.uk consultation is accessible to (a) people living with disabilities and (b) people without access to the internet.

The Change NHS engagement exercise will give the public, staff, and partners the opportunity to share their views and help develop the 10-Year Health Plan. This will be done through our recently launched online platform, change.NHS.UK, and through online and in-person events.

The online platform provides a variety of formats and ways to respond, to meet the range of accessibility needs. British Sign Language and easy-read formats of the Change NHS surveys are available on the online platform as of 1 November. We are also working to ensure that the online platform is accessible for people using assistive technology. This in line with public sector accessibility requirements that we set out in the contract with the external supplier responsible for the platform.

There is an option to respond via post with a printed copy of the survey content, for those who cannot respond online. Anyone having any difficultly responding can get in touch using the contact details available on the website to request assistance or an alternative way to respond.