Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 July 2024 to Question 1339 on Accessible Information Standard, for what reason NHS England cannot provide a specific date for publication.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is unable to provide an exact date for the publication of the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), due to their internal assurance and governance process. In addition, the AIS can only be published once the accessible versions are in place, all web content has been produced, and all stakeholders have been informed in advance, all of which can only be considered post-internal assurance and governance.
It should be noted that the current AIS remains in force and therefore, there should not be a gap in provision for people using services.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure NHS England is complying with the Accessible Information Standard.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England remains committed to implementing the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) effectively, and this remains a priority for the People and Communities division. NHS England has identified a number of ways to support the standard, including through a self-assessment framework, and has committed to reviewing the efficacy of implementation.
When NHS England publishes anything, the item will require approval via their publications approval process. This involves checking the item for compliance with website accessibility guidelines as well as general accessibility, for example complexity of language. In addition, their Equality and Involvement team will, as part of the process, review the proposed content and approach, with a view to ensuring that it is compliant with the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality duty, before giving clearance. The Department has included the AIS within the NHS England mandate, which illustrates the commitment to NHS England implementing the AIS in its work.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data he holds on the number of people accessing NHS services who did not receive information in an accessible format.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The requested data is not held centrally.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to the public purse is of implementing the Accessible Information Standard.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is committed to implementing the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) effectively. NHS England has identified a number of ways to support the standard, including through a self-assessment framework, and has committed to reviewing the efficacy of implementation. This will be achieved through existing staffing and team allocations.
For health and care systems, the AIS is an existing standard which has been in place since 2016, and we would expect systems to implement it within existing budgets, making it a priority where any costs are accrued to implement it. NHS England has invested officer time in developing the standard, and will invest further staff time in the launch and suitable communications as planned.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects NHS England to publish the updated Accessible Information Standard.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Accessible Information Standard (AIS) review has been completed, and the updated standard and supporting documents are in the process of being transferred to web copy. NHS England is working on ensuring accessible versions are available for publication, and is making updates to the AIS e-learning modules in line with the new standard. NHS England is ensuring that all stakeholders involved in the review of the AIS have had ample opportunity to feedback on the process. The AIS documentation is going through NHS England's publication approval process. NHS England cannot provide a specific date for publication of the AIS, but aim to publish it soon.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the barriers faced by patients who wish to access information in an alternative format.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Equality Act (2010), health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged. National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers must comply with the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss.
Once the revised standard receives publishing approval, NHS England will continue work to support implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and updated e-learning modules on the AIS to ensure NHS staff are better aware of the standard, and their roles and responsibilities in implementing it.
NHS England is in the process of developing updated e-learning training modules on the AIS, to complement the updated AIS. These will raise awareness of the standard and ensure that NHS staff can access up to date training on their roles and responsibilities under the AIS, which should support better and more consistent implementation of the standard.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
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 that all NHS providers are producing information in format that is in line with the Accessible Information Standard.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Equality Act (2010), health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged. National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers must comply with the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss.
Once the revised standard receives publishing approval, NHS England will continue work to support implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and updated e-learning modules on the AIS to ensure NHS staff are better aware of the standard, and their roles and responsibilities in implementing it.
NHS England is in the process of developing updated e-learning training modules on the AIS, to complement the updated AIS. These will raise awareness of the standard and ensure that NHS staff can access up to date training on their roles and responsibilities under the AIS, which should support better and more consistent implementation of the standard.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of trends in the special schools eye care service budget on service delivery.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
NHS England has committed to invest up to £12.7 million annually for the provision of sight tests and associated optical vouchers in special educational settings. This represents an approximate 87% increase compared to the current budget. This additional investment has the potential to increase coverage from 4% of special educational settings to 100%. This is a new additional budget for providing sight tests and vouchers in these settings, and so represents a recurrent increased investment in sight testing and the sight testing sector. Service delivery will continue within the proof-of-concept settings, to ensure continuity of service, whilst the required regulatory changes are laid in Parliament to underpin wider rollout during 2024/25.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to ensure that the budget for the Special Schools Eye Care Service is not reduced so that (a) children with Special Educational Needs can receive free eye care in schools and (b) optometrists can afford to continue providing the service.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
NHS England has committed to invest up to £12.7 million annually for the provision of sight tests and associated optical vouchers in special educational settings. This represents an approximate 87% increase compared to the current budget. This additional investment has the potential to increase coverage from 4% of special educational settings to 100%. This is a new additional budget for providing sight tests and vouchers in these settings, and so represents a recurrent increased investment in sight testing and the sight testing sector. Service delivery will continue within the proof-of-concept settings, to ensure continuity of service, whilst the required regulatory changes are laid in Parliament to underpin wider rollout during 2024/25.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of cutting the special schools eye care budget on children with special educational needs.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
NHS England has committed to invest up to £12.7 million annually for the provision of sight tests and associated optical vouchers in special educational settings. This represents an approximate 87% increase compared to the current budget. This additional investment has the potential to increase coverage from 4% of special educational settings to 100%. This is a new additional budget for providing sight tests and vouchers in these settings, and so represents a recurrent increased investment in sight testing and the sight testing sector. Service delivery will continue within the proof-of-concept settings, to ensure continuity of service, whilst the required regulatory changes are laid in Parliament to underpin wider rollout during 2024/25.