The Accessible Information Standard tells organisations how to make information accessible to patients, service users and their carers or parents whose needs relate to a disability, impairment or sensory loss.
This includes making sure that people get the appropriate support to help them communicate, for example offering support from a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter or deafblind manual interpreter, information in audio, Easy Read or communication via email or text.
This is a legal requirement of the Equality Act 2010 and applies to all organisations included within the Health and Social Care Act.
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust must do five things to meet the Accessible Information Standard:
 Ask (identify) if people (patients, parents and carers) have any information or communication needs, and find out how to meet those needs. |
 Record those needs, and consent, in a way that is highly visible on the electronic and/or paper record. |
 Flag on the person’s electronic record, and put a “communication needs” sticker on their paper record. |
 Share information about the person’s needs with other teams, services and other agencies and providers during referral, discharge or handover. |
 Act (meet the needs) – make sure people get their information in the way they have requested and have their communication needs met. |
More information about the Accessible Information Standard is available in other formats on the NHS England website.
There are many good reasons why Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust is working on improving the provision of the accessible information standard:
- Improve health and wellbeing amongst patients
- Empower people to get involved and make decisions about their care and treatment
- Improve patient safety due to ability to understand and follow information regarding care and treatment
- Improvement in the effectiveness of clinical care due to addressing barriers to communication
- Improvement in patient experience and satisfaction
How can we help you?
We can provide different types of communication support or information in different formats. Please tell us as soon as possible, before your appointment, what support you need or ask someone to tell us on your behalf.
Please visit our leaflet library for some information we have available in other formats.
For other Easy Read information published by other organisations you can visit the following websites: