Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to revise the Accessible Information Standard to improve accessibility to healthcare for deaf people.

Under the Equality Act 2010, health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged. Since 2016, all National Health Service 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.

NHS England has completed a review as part of its revision of the AIS. The review considered the effectiveness of the current AIS, how the standard is implemented and enforced in practice, and identified recommendations for improvement.

Once the revised standard receives publishing approval, NHS England will support implementation of it to ensure NHS staff are better aware of the standard and their roles and responsibilities.