Inclusion London responds to consultation on NHS Accessible information draft Standards

Inclusion London’s response provides feedback on the draft standards from people with learning difficulties, visually impaired people and Deaf people.

We recommend that Deaf and disabled people’s organisations (DDPOs) and disabled people’s Access groups are involved in the practical implementation of the Standard.

The standard is fairly comprehensive but it is not clear whether the standards are mandatory or not.  If they are not we recommend that:

• strong incentives to achieve the Standard are put in place and sanctions imposed if the Standard is not reached.
• Organisations are informed of their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 so they are aware that it is discriminatory to put disabled people at a ‘substantial disadvantage’ in comparison to non-disabled people in accessing services and information and that ‘reasonable adjustments’ for disabled people need to be made.  We recommend that the Equality and Human Rights Commission advice is contained within the Accessible Information Standard.
• Sufficient funding is provided to enable health and social care bodies to implement the Standard.

Our full response is available to download below:

Inclusion London response NHS Accessible Info Standard consult