Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to improve telephone services in England for d/Deaf people.

No specific assessment has been made. NHS England and NHS Improvement commissioned the North of England Commissioning Support Unit to carry out an independent review of commissioning arrangements for British Sign Language interpreting services. The review has now concluded and NHS England and NHS Improvement anticipate that the report will be published shortly. NHS England and NHS Improvement will work with all relevant stakeholders to implement the specific recommendations made in the report and ensure d/Deaf people are able to access National Health Service telephone services in England.

NHS organisations and publicly funded social care providers in England must also comply with the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment or sensory loss. NHS England and NHS Improvement are currently reviewing the AIS and expect the updated standard to be published later in 2022.