Did you know everyone in the UK has the right to receive information in a format that they can access and understand?
The Equality Act 2010 applies in England, Scotland and Wales. This requires service providers, including health and social care services, to make reasonable adjustments.
Yet In England after five years of the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), only 11% of patients covered by the AIS have equitable access to the NHS. [Coalition report, 2022] . In Wales in their Make it make sense report [2023] their findings include 'one in three blind and partially sighted people have missed a healthcare appointment or had their healthcare affected because they did not receive information that that they could read'.
RNIB have created a set of practical resources that you can use to help you improve accessible information in your organisation.
Simple things like ensuring appointment letters are printed in Arial 14 as standard will ensure that letters can be read by more people.
We are keen to support you, work with you and hear your successes....
You can join the campaign #MyInfoMyWay and you can find more information HERE
This information will help you in creating accessible information and communication resources for health and social care.