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 ensure greater 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, including deaf people.

NHS England has undertaken a review of the AIS. The review considered its effectiveness, how it is implemented and enforced in practice, and identified recommendations for improvement.

The revised standard is being reviewed with a view to publication, in the meantime NHS England will continue work to support implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement and a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS. The intention is to ensure by several routes that staff and organisations in the NHS are aware of the current standard implemented in 2016 and the importance of meeting the needs of disabled people using services.