What assessment has the Cabinet Secretary made of how the All Wales Standards for Accessible Communication and Information for People with Sensory Loss are being upheld across Wales?
The All-Wales Standards for Communication and Information for People with Sensory Loss (the standards) were implemented in 2013 to dismantle barriers to healthcare for people with sensory loss.
NHS organisations have a duty to meet the standards, as part of their commitments under the Equality Act 2010, and the Duty of Quality, which came into force in April 2023, as part of the Health and Social Care (Quality and Engagement) (Wales) Act 2020.
In 2023 Welsh Government reviewed the effectiveness of the standards in collaboration with representatives from NHS Wales, external partners, and people with lived experience. Recommendations aimed at removing barriers and ensuring the communication and information needs of patients, service users, parents and carers are consistently met were developed.
In October 2023, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services approved these recommendations, and work is now underway to progress these. In the meantime, NHS organisations continue to have a duty to meet the existing All-Wales Standards for Communication and Information for People with Sensory Loss, 2013.