Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the RNID report entitled Still Ignored: the fight for accessible healthcare; what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that the communication barriers and health inequalities for deaf and hearing-impaired people are reduced.

Under the 2010 Equality Act, health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged. This includes responsibility for ensuring that there is adequate provision of British Sign Language interpreters to support deaf patients.

NHS England published a revised Accessible Information Standard (AIS) on 30 June 2025 and 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. The intention is to ensure that staff and organisations in the National Health Service are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of disabled people using services.

In July 2016, NHS England published the report Commissioning Services for People with Hearing Loss: A Framework for Clinical Commissioning Groups. This framework supports the newly established integrated care boards in England to make informed decisions on maximising value for local populations and providing consistent, high quality, integrated care. It also addresses inequalities in access and outcomes between hearing services.

NHS England is also rolling out a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag which enables the recording of key information about a patient and their adjustment needs, to ensure support can be tailored appropriately. Guidance and free training on the Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag are available for health and social care staff.