NHS Accessible Information Standard: frequently asked questions

The NHS Accessible Information Standard was launched in August 2016. It’s sometimes referred to as the AIS or the Standard, and its technical name is DAPB1605 Accessible Information.

The aim of the Standard is to ensure that "patients with communication needs" receive accessible information and appropriate communication support, so they can access services independently, and make decisions about their health, wellbeing, care and treatment.

The Standard means that blind and partially sighted people must receive health and social care information in a format they can read and understand, and appropriate communication support, fulfilling legal rights to accessible information under the Equality Act 2010.

The Accessible Information Standard includes:

• How and when NHS and adult social care services record people's information and communication needs.
• Sharing people’s information and communication needs across services (with their permission so they don’t have to keep requesting alternative formats for every health care provider).
• How people’s information and communication needs are met, such as providing information in alternative formats such as large print, email, audio, braille, or Easy Read.

A 2022 report by RNIB and other charities indicated that people with communication needs receive a lower quality of healthcare, including situations which could put them at serious risk.

Poor implementation of the AIS has serious practical, health and emotional consequences. People shared experiences of a lack of accessible communications as a barrier to making appointments, communicating with health professionals, finding out test results and receiving accessible information on discharge and medication instructions.

Despite reports of good practice in some areas, knowledge of the Standard is still poor among healthcare professionals and adherence to it is even worse:

• After five years of the Accessible Information Standard, only 11 per cent of patients covered by the AIS have equitable access to the NHS.
• 77 per cent of people with accessible information needs reported rarely or never receiving information in alternative formats.
• 1 in 3 health and social care providers were unaware or unsure of the existence of the AIS.
• Only 35 per cent of professionals reported that their organisation provides regular training linked to the Standard, and 37 per cent report training has never occurred.
• Only 41 per cent of complaints procedures were reported to be accessible by the professionals who filled in the survey.

1. The Standard previously had a five stage process which covered identification, recording, flagging, sharing and meeting of communication needs. There is now an extra “review” stage – where NHS services need to proactively check that your communication needs are up to date in their records, and that they are being met.
2. All health and social care organisations should appoint a senior named role responsible for overseeing the Standard being put into practice.
3. NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) have a specific role under the updated Standard as commissioners of health and care services. This includes: Ensuring that NHS and social care providers in their area are following the Standard. Appointing a senior named role at board level, with responsibility for the Standard within their portfolio.
4. All NHS and social care organisations must complete annual improvement plans, to assess how well they are meeting the Standard. This can be done through a new NHS provider self-assessment tool.
5. NHS England, ICBs and health and social care providers should involve people with communication needs to improve how they carry out the Standard.

• Making sure NHS and social care IT systems are fit for purpose, required to record, update and meet communication needs, and share these communication requirements with other NHS and social care services when appropriate. The updated Standard does not adequately address this issue, which we know to be a major barrier to fulfilling patients’ communication needs.
• Improving training for staff, to ensure they have greater awareness of the importance of accessible information, and to improve their skills to provide this essential support. This training needs to be mandatory for NHS and social care staff and co-created by people with communication needs.
• NHS and social care providers will not have their annual improvement plans reviewed by NHS England, the DHSC or the Care Quality Commission as standard practice. This will make it difficult to understand whether there has been an improvement in blind and partially sighted patients’ access to health information.
• NHS and publicly-funded adult social care services must have “due regard” to the updated AIS 2025, and by implementing the Standard these services are likely to meet their duties under the Equality Act 2010. However, the updated AIS 2025 is still not a “mandatory” Standard, which means that despite the improvements listed above, implementation of the Standard is still likely to be limited. To address this, section 95 of the Health and Care Act 2022 will make all Information Standards, including the AIS, mandatory. We expect this legislation to be enacted in the summer of 2025, which will start the process of reviewing the AIS to make it mandatory. RNIB will campaign to ensure that the DHSC prioritises this process, to avoid further delays to making blind and partially sighted people’s right to accessible health information a reality.