Press Release issued: 29 September 2010.
Only one in ten blind or partially sighted people received information from healthcare providers in a format they could understand in a survey commissioned by Scotland's leading sight loss charity.
RNIB Scotland says that people's health could be at risk if prescriptions, letters of diagnosis, test results and other information are not made available in formats such as braille, large-print or audio when requested.
Some respondents reported having missed appointments, had difficulty understanding their medical conditions, or even taken the wrong amount of medication. Whilst these instances were relatively infrequent, the potentially serious effects should not be underestimated, warned the charity.
In other cases, people felt their sense of privacy and confidentiality was undermined when they had to ask others to read personal information to them about their health.
RNIB Scotland will discuss the survey's findings with MSPs on the Scottish Parliament's Health and Sport committee today. The backbench committee is currently scrutinising the wider Patients Rights (Scotland) Bill introduced by Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon.
The survey was conducted by Mhairi Thurston of Abertay University in Dundee and Dr Allen Thurston of York University. Ms Thurston, who lost her own sight to retinitis pigmentosa, said: "Being able to access healthcare information independently is vital to people who are blind or partially sighted. It is also a right.
"But too often, people receive information in formats they can't understand - even when healthcare providers know they have a sight loss condition.
"Virtually all of the blind and partially sighted people who responded to our survey said that had a preferred reading format. However, on average only 10 per cent of all communications from health services were received in this format. Some reported experiencing difficulty in identifying and using medication, and some relied on others to help identify and administer it."
Among those surveyed, only 13.4 per cent said their GPs had communicated with them in their preferred format, only 16.4 per cent of hospital out-patient departments, and 9.6 per cent of dentists.
"Receiving information in an inaccessible format resulted in serious breaches of medical confidentiality because people had to ask others to read personal information to them about their health," went on Thurston. "Breach of confidentiality contravenes medical ethical guidelines and is reported to result in lower standards of patient care."
The majority of respondents did not complain when information was received in an inappropriate format, although 91 per cent of those surveyed thought they had a right to receive health information in a format they could read.
RNIB Scotland says there is a need for greater awareness among healthcare staff on how to support the needs of blind and partially sighted patients. The charity is also calling for the X-PIL pharmaceutical information service to be more widely promoted. X-PIL allows patients to call a helpline to request a patient information leaflet (PIL) in accessible formats explaining how to administer individual medications.
Around 180,000 people in Scotland have a significant sight condition. However, in a report published in June, RNIB Scotland warned this could double within the next two decades due to an ageing population and the country's persistently poor health record.