The Accessible Information Standard is a law to make sure that people who have a disability, impairment or sensory loss are given information in an accessible way.
All organisations that provide NHS care and/or publicly-funded adult social care are legally required to follow the Accessible Information Standard. The standard sets out a specific, consistent approach to identifying, recording, flagging, sharing and meeting the information and communication support needs of patients, service users, carers and parents with a disability, impairment or sensory loss.
Information and communication support needs to be provided in a way that meets the needs of the individual. This can be in different formats, like:
- Easy read
- Braille
- Via an advocate
- In British Sign Language (BSL)
- In large print
NHS England has 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 BSL interpretation.
They’ve also produced an overview of the Accessible Information Standard for patients, service users, carers.
The Standard requires NHS organisations to do five things:
- Record those needs clearly and in a set way.
- Ask people if they have any information or communication needs and how we can meet these.
- Highlight or flag the person’s file or notes so it is clear they have communication needs and how to meet these needs.
- Share our knowledge of a person’s information or communication needs with other providers of NHS and adult social care services when we have consent or permission to do so.
- Take steps to make sure people receive information that they can access and understand and that they are given communication support if they need it.
Please get in touch if you need a document from our website in an alternative format. We can offer you information in other languages, in large print or braille, or in audio format.
You can find more information about the Accessible Information Standard on the NHS England website.
There is also information available in our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion section.
Website accessibility
We have worked closely with our service users, staff, carers and wider partners to make our site as accessible as possible for all visitors. For more details, read our accessibility statement.