Accessible Information Standard

From July 2016, all organisations providing health or publicly funded adult social care are legally required to follow the Accessible Information Standard.

The aim of the standard is to make sure that people who have a disability, impairment or sensory loss, and their carers or parents, get information that they can access and understand, and any communication support that they need. There are exclusions determined to be out of scope listed in section 5.6 of the NHS England DCB1605 Accessible Information: Specification v 1.1.

As part of the standard we will:

• Identify (ask) if you have any information or communication needs, and find out how these needs can be met
• Record details of your needs and how to meet them clearly on your social care records
• Highlight (flag) your communication needs, so whoever looks at your record will be aware of your needs and how these should be met
• Share information about a person's needs, where appropriate, with other NHS and adult social care providers, when we have consent or permission to do so
• Do what we can to meet your communication needs

Overview of the Standard

NHS England have worked with the charity Sense to develop an animated video which provides a step-by-step overview of the Standard. The video includes subtitles and British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation.
 

Further Information

We have an  Accessible Information Policy - Adult Social Care [330KB] , which describes how we comply with the Standard. We also have an Easy Read version. 

If you feel we have not met your communication needs please tell us using the options listed on our Adult Social Care Complaints and Feedback page.

For more information and guidance around the standard, you can visit NHS England - Accessible Information Standard on the NHS England website.