Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will undertake a review of the proportion of patients with communication needs who can access their health information in a format suitable to their personal needs.

There are no plans to undertake such a review. 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 are required to comply with the Accessible Information Standard. The Standard sets out a specific, consistent approach to identifying, recording, flagging, sharing and meeting the information and communication support needs of patients, service users, carers and parents with a disability, impairment or sensory loss.

The standard sets out that NHS organisations must ask people if they have any information or communication needs and take steps to ensure that people receive information which they can access and understand and receive communication support if they need it.