DCHS staff must identify and record communication needs and make reasonable adjustments with service users
Accessible information standards explained
The Accessible Information Standard tells organisations how they should make sure that disabled patients receive information in formats that they can understand and receive appropriate support to help them to communicate.
For latest information and updates visit NHS England.
The ReciteMe toolbar provides text-to-speech functionality, fully customisable styling features, reading aids and a translation tool with over 100 languages, including 65 text-to-speech voices and many other features.
This means that when the toolbar is activated by the user they can:
- Listen to the website using text-to-speech functionality
- Customise background, text and accessibility tool colours
- Modify the font, line height or spacing of text
- Zoom in up to 200% without text spilling off the screen
- The text will reflow in a single column when you change the size of your browser window
- Navigate the website using just a keyboard
- Translate the website into a different language
- Download mp3 files of web page text
- View website pages in text-only mode
NHS England have developed a really useful set of resources which hosts all the information needed for you to understand the standards and how to support someone with communication needs.
Resources include:
- Fact sheets
- Online discussion forum
- Glossery of terms
- Presentations, videos and webinars
- And lots more
As a requirement to record accessible information on patient records, we have now updated the templates within SystmOne.
A new single template has replaced the old diversity monitoring questionnaire and the ‘LD & Reasonable Adjustments’ templates.
Please read a short user guide on accessing and using the new template.
Please use the FREE information design service within the Learning Disability Service at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust when you are looking at making your information easy read.
This service produces easy to understand information for the people who use services and has been designed with the people who use services.
This is supported by the NHS England Accessible information Standards. All you need to do is register and start using the photos or symbols (if they don’t have something you need you can contact them and they will design something for you.
Please always to reference them when you have used their designs.
In Derbyshire, 6 out of 10 people struggle to understand everyday health information – this includes your patients. In the UK, the average reading age is 9 years. A few small changes can make such a difference, and we can all play our part. To support you we have created a simple ‘health literacy checklist’ for you to use when writing letters, reports or leaflets.
You can read the checklist here!
If you would like more information about health literacy you can look on the Joined Up Care Derbyshire website here: JUCD Health Literacy.