Call for evidence: Meeting diverse communication needs in primary care services |
Help us to improve health and care
Primary care services are the front door to the NHS – they are the first port of call when we feel unwell and the main coordinator of care when we are living with ill health. The primary care team have an important role in making people feel welcomed, listened to and taken seriously.
Yet, at National Voices we often hear stories from groups of people who struggle to have their communication needs met within primary care. As just one example, five years after the launch of the Accessible Information Standard, 67 per cent of Deaf people reported that still no accessible method of contacting their GP has been made available to them (Signhealth, 2022).
This issue also affects other groups with specific communication needs - people who don't speak English fluently, people with learning disabilities, autistic people, people with dementia, people with low or no literacy, people who are digitally excluded, people living nomadically, people experiencing homelessness and more.
We also know that there are many positive examples of primary care services working positively and proactively to meet people's communications needs. We are keen to collect and disseminate learning about these.
Yet, at National Voices we often hear stories from groups of people who struggle to have their communication needs met within primary care. As just one example, five years after the launch of the Accessible Information Standard, 67 per cent of Deaf people reported that still no accessible method of contacting their GP has been made available to them (Signhealth, 2022).
This issue also affects other groups with specific communication needs - people who don't speak English fluently, people with learning disabilities, autistic people, people with dementia, people with low or no literacy, people who are digitally excluded, people living nomadically, people experiencing homelessness and more.
We also know that there are many positive examples of primary care services working positively and proactively to meet people's communications needs. We are keen to collect and disseminate learning about these.
How to respond
Please share any case studies or examples of work where primary care services have worked in positive and innovative ways to meet the diverse communication needs of people accessing their service.
Please share any case studies or examples of work where primary care services have worked in positive and innovative ways to meet the diverse communication needs of people accessing their service.
If you have any questions about the research, please do not hesitate to get in touch with Aleyah Babb-Benjamin (Aleyah.Babb-Benjamin@nationalvoices.org.uk), Project and Insight Manager at National Voices.