Telephone Mystery Shopping Project Undertaken in February 2017 -Exploring how effectively NHS providers are fulfilling the legal requirements of the Accessible Information Standard

Healthwatch Gateshead contacted a random sample of NHS GP Practices, Opticians and Dentists in order to explore the extent to which they are meeting their obligations in relation the NHS Accessible Information Standard, which became a legal requirement on 1 August 2016.

Overall there were mixed results. Although some of the NHS providers  contacted were very helpful and offered to find out about the support they could offer, there was a considerable number who offered little, inappropriate or no support at all. Some providers put the onus on the patient or their family to make their own interpreter arrangements. 

It appeared that almost all of the staff Healthwatch spoke to were unaware of the legal responsibility placed on NHS providers to identify; record and meet additional support needs of their patients. There also seemed to be a general lack of awareness among staff around the challenges and barriers faced by someone who has little or no hearing, and who can only communicate via lip-reading or BSL. In a number of cases the main form of communication was cited as “writing notes”.

The “support” offered by some of the providers  did not appear to promote independence, but rather dependence on family members. It was also apparent that some of the support mechanisms described to us meant that a patient with a hearing impairment may only receive limited information during their appointment (by writing notes) and in some cases (largely optician appointments). 

Only one out of the ten GP Practices acknowledged that a longer appointment was needed in order to enable BSL to be used effectively.  The support offered by many providers in response to this preference did not include BSL support, which is perhaps somewhat surprising. The support Healthwatch were offered instead included note writing at appointments, use of a hearing aid loop system during appointments, or making their own interpreter arrangements and in some cases no support at all. 

None of the NHS providers contacted made reference to using a speech to text reporter, arranging a lip speaker or a note taker at appointments.