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Written question asked by Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour) on Wednesday, 20 May 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 1 June 2026 (named day). It was answered by Stephen Kinnock (Labour) on Monday, 1 June 2026 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.


Disability: Advocacy

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with Integrated Care Boards on the availability of health-related advocacy for disabled adults where such support is necessary to enable access to NHS services.

Answer

Since 2016, all National Health Service organisations, including general practices, are expected to meet the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), which details the approach to supporting the information and communication support needs of people with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss. NHS England is working to support implementation of the AIS across NHS organisations, including integrated care boards, with awareness raising, communication, and engagement. The intention is to ensure that staff and organisations in the NHS are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of disabled people using services.

In addition, NHS England is also rolling out a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag (RADF) which enables the recording of key information about a disabled patient or client and the reasonable adjustments to care and treatment that they need, to ensure support can be tailored appropriately and equitably.

Under the new RADF information standard, all publicly funded health and social care service providers must be able to share, read, and write reasonable adjustment data by 30 September 2026. This means that IT systems must be able to read the information stored in reasonable adjustment digital flags and update records as and when an individual’s adjustment needs change.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
3413
Session
2026-27
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Disability Advocacy
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk