The Delivery of the Accessible Information Standard in South West London GP Practices
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Healthwatch Croydon, Healthwatch Kingston upon Thames, Healthwatch Merton, Healthwatch Richmond upon Thames, Healthwatch Sutton and Healthwatch Wandsworth worked together to research how well people with communication needs felt that GP practices met their needs. They undertook survey of patients, GP staff and carers and ran focus groups. They heard from 226 people in total.
73% of people with communication needs shared that they did not know what the AIS is.
People mostly had a good experience sharing their communication needs, but many said they had to repeat them often
People shared that their GP services provided a wide range of communication tools, such as easy read formats and Plain English documents.
Across different communication needs, people said they often depend on family or community organisations to help them talk to GP services. Without this help, they might lose contact with GPs and miss out on proper care.
People with communication needs shared the importance of having information shared in an accessible way to maintain independence and communicate directly with GP staff.
Carers of people with communication needs said it's important for GP services to understand their role in speaking up for the person they care for. This should be considered alongside a patient's ability to be independent.
Carers said that seeing the same GP staff helps avoid repeating communication needs. This saves time during appointments and allows more focus on health issues.
Most GP staff had some level of awareness of the AIS.
GP staff had some training in the AIS but some staff shared that it would help to have experts, resources, and support to use the right communication tools.
GP practices recorded communication needs in different ways. Some staff said the system for flagging these needs can be overwhelming, as a lot of different flags can appear on a patient’s record. These often get missed because of workflows and limited time in appointments.
GP staff shared that it is important to monitor how well a practice is changing to help people with communication needs and to provide a continual feedback system between patients and practices.
Across all three groups, the importance of training, longer appointments, and not assuming the communication needs of people was a consistent theme.