Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much was spent by NHS England on sign language interpreters for NHS appointments in each of the past five financial years.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The information requested is not held centrally. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services to meet the needs of their local population, which includes responsibility for ensuring that there is adequate provision of British Sign Language interpreters to support deaf patients in the community.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much was spent by NHS England on reasonable adjustments to remove the barriers faced by individuals with disabilities in all health and social care settings in each of the past five financial years.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The information requested is not collected or held centrally.

It is the responsibility of individual employers and providers to provide reasonable adjustments. Under the Equality Act 2010, health and social care organisations have a legal duty to make changes in their approach or provision to ensure that services are as accessible to disabled people as they are for everybody else.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what data they collect about the uptake by health providers of the reasonable adjustment flag in NHS England records; and whether they will publish those data.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag was developed to enable health and care workers to record, share, and view details of reasonable adjustments, across the National Health Service and social care, wherever a person is seen or treated. Following the launch of the Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag Information Standard, published September 2023, the flag went live in the National Care Record Service, and is being rolled out across England. To support health and social care organisations in implementing the Digital Flag, NHS England has published a useful checklist, which is available on the NHS.UK website in an online only format, and staff can access free training, also on the NHS.UK website.

The information requested is not collected or held centrally, however NHS England has set an expectation that integrated care boards can collect this data for their local populations.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to disaggregate the indicators included in the NHS Outcomes Framework in terms of disability status and impairment type.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are currently no plans to disaggregate NHS Outcomes Framework indicators in terms of disability status and impairment type.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what data they collect on the state of compliance of GP surgeries with the regulations relating to making buildings fully accessible to those with disabilities, as set out in the Equality Act 2010 (Disability) Regulations 2010 and Part M of the Building Regulations 2010.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England undertakes a mandatory data collection from all general practices (GPs) in England, which they must complete every year, by way of an annual survey called the electronic practice self-declaration (eDEC). Within that survey, questions cover the practice’s premises and equipment with regards to service provision, compliance with health and safety regulations, and infection control, as defined in the contract, specifically as per Regulations 12(2)(d-f) and (h) and 15 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) and Regulations 2014 (as amended) and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974). The survey asks GPs to confirm that at least one consulting room in the practice premises is accessible to wheelchair users. NHS England holds this data at a national level.

NHS England also publishes data on the accessibility of practice buildings, which is already within the public domain on the NHS.UK website, although this may not specifically include the eDec data return.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they collect data on how many NHS England appointments were cancelled because of a lack of sign language interpreters; and, if so, whether they will publish those data for the past five financial years.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England routinely collects data on both cancelled and missed hospital appointments, although data is not collected on the reasons why, and cannot be disaggregated to explain causes.

All National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers are expected to meet the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), which details the approach to supporting the information and communication support needs of people with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss, including people using British Sign Language.

On 30 June 2025, a refreshed AIS was published. NHS England is working to support implementation of the AIS with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS.

Israel APPG
Tuesday 10th June 2025

Found: Andrew Fox Attendees: Lord Arbuthnot, Lord Wasserman, Baroness Foster of Oxton, Lord Rogan, Sharon