Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of proposals to shift from analogue to digital announced in the 10-year Health Plan for England, what provisions will be established to ensure digital exclusion does not exacerbate any existing inequalities...

National Health Service organisations must ensure that all patients have equitable access to care, and that decisions or policies do not unfairly disadvantage people or lead to an increase in inequalities. All NHS organisations are legally obliged to not discriminate against patients or staff.

This means that a non-digital solution should be available for those patients who cannot or do not wish to engage digitally, and these non-digital routes must be available for all services provided by NHS organisations.

Aligned to the Equality Act 2010 and the Health and Social Care Act 2012, each 10-Year Health Plan policy, proposition, programme, proposal, or initiative in scope of public sector equality duties will undergo an Equality Impact Assessments and Equality and Healthcare Inequalities Impact Assessments.