FOI/2025/26/284

Our communities tell us they can sometimes face difficulties can when seeking access to NHS care as a result of failure to meet their communication needs.  As you will know, in 2016, NHS England introduced the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) – a document that sets out clear guidance on what must be done to make NHS and publicly funded social care services accessible to people with disability and sensory loss.

I would like to request some information from the NHS Trust that relates to accessible healthcare for RNID’s communities, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

1.      What proportion of staff employed by the Trust have completed the NHS England e-learning module on the NHS Accessible Information Standard? The training is available via the HUB, however it is not on iLearn or attached to any competency so is not tracked. 

 

2.      What proportion of the clinical staff employed by the Trust have completed the NHS England e-learning module on the NHS Accessible Information Standard?  The training is available via the HUB, however it is not on iLearn or attached to any competency so is not tracked. 

 

3.       Does the Trust offer training on deaf awareness to staff?  If so, please specify how the training is delivered. We ran the British Sign Language (BSL) 6-week programme  in 2023, twice. (one half day per week) as well as 3 x deaf awareness half days on Zoom. 

As you will know, “reasonable adjustments” are a legal requirement under the Equality Act 2010, to make sure health services are accessible to disabled people. Reasonable adjustments in accessing NHS services for a person who is deaf or has hearing loss might include the provision of a BSL interpreter or other communication support professional, facing the patient and not speaking too quickly, or the provision of alternative contact methods to the telephone.

If it is not possible to provide these figures in full without incurring the Act’s Section 12 time/cost limit, please provide any figures you are able to within the limit (e.g. figures for one year, any snapshot reports/audits)

 

5.      In the last five years, what has been the cost of litigation to the NHS Trust as a result of failure to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 to meet the communication needs of patients who are deaf or have hearing loss? We have had no complaints of this nature over the last 5 years.

If such payments are processed by NHS Resolution, including where failure to provide reasonable adjustments has been part of a clinical negligence case, please let us know total cost paid as a result of claims against the Trust on this topic.

 If it is not possible to provide these figures in full without incurring the Act’s Section 12 time/cost limit, please provide any figures you are able to within the limit.

 

6.      In the last five years, what has been the cost of litigation to the NHS Trust as a result of failure to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 to meet the communication needs of patients with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss (as set out in the NHS Accessible Information Standard)? We have had no complaints of this nature over the last 5 years.