Your care, Your Way Accessible Information Standard Report

In February 2022, Healthwatch England launched a new campaign ‘Your care, your way’. The campaign aimed to gain insight into how well Health and Care Services are delivering Accessible Information Standard (AIS), identifying those who have problems understanding information and ensure that everyone knows their rights.

To do this we conducted a survey online from February to April 2022. We heard from 58 people and this report highlights the findings. 

20% had request for support to understand information or communicate with services refused

Summary

The results of this survey highlight that despite the AIS being a legal requirement, many are still struggling to access the support they need in order to understand information about their health and care and communicate with services.

Many are unaware that they are able to ask for support, but for those that do services and staff are not always receptive. Such issues and previous experiences deter people from asking for support in the future.

This lack of support is having a negative impact on people being able to access health and care services and make informed decisions which in turn negatively impacts people’s physical and mental health.

It is therefore crucial that not only are people made aware of the AIS and their rights as outlined in this report, but that health and care organisations play their part in ensuring equitable access to information and services.

As part of the national survey and campaign Healthwatch England sent all NHS trusts a freedom of information request, in Lincolnshire we received responses form LPFT and LCHS, no response was received from ULHT.

44% struggled to understand information about their healthcare

A download link to the report is below. If you need the report in another format or would like to discuss anything, please email info@healthwatchlincolnshire.co.uk or call 01205 820 892.