Coronavirus: Disability

(asked on 11th May 2020) - View Source

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 public health and care services remain aware of their legal obligations to (a) make reasonable adjustments, (b) meet communication needs and (c) assess capacity during care or treatment for disabled people during the covid-19 outbreak.


Answered by
Helen Whately Portrait
Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 3rd June 2020

A range of guidance has been published to ensure that public health and care services remain aware of their legal obligations to make reasonable adjustments during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, NHS England and NHS Improvement have produced the ‘Grab and Go’ hospital passport and related guidance to support organisations to make reasonable adjustments for people with learning disabilities and/or autism.

We expect organisations to continue to comply with the requirements of the Accessible Information Standard which National Health Service organisations must follow to support effective communication. NHS England and NHS Improvement have also published a range of easy read documents to support the communication needs of people with a learning disability, autism or both during COVID-19.

The principles of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and the safeguards provided by the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards still apply during the COVID-19 outbreak. On 9 April we published guidance to help decision makers make decisions regarding capacity quickly and safely, whilst also keeping the person at the centre of the process.

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