RNIB’s pleas for improved information access

People living with sight loss said receiving healthcare information in an accessible format would have a positive impact on their quality of life. 

Findings from a Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) survey led to a call for NHS England to provide information in different formats to help more than one million people living with visual impairment. 

David Aldwinckle, RNIB’s director of insight and customer voice, said: ‘Making healthcare information accessible isn’t a luxury or an add-on, it’s every patient’s right.’ 

The Accessible Information Standard was introduced in 2016 but the RNIB said implementation varied across the country. An updated version is due to be published by NHS England in July to further ensure blind and partially slighted people receive healthcare information in their required format.