Training and resources for improving accessible communication in south west London GP practices
We designed this page to provide support and resources for health and care providers to improve their ability to meet the accessibility needs of people with disabilities that affect communication. Members of our South West London Accessible Information Standard Community of Practice, a group that includes people with lived experience, GP practice and Integrated Care Board staff, and Disability charities, contributed to this list.
You can find learnings from Healthwatch’s engagement with people living with disability, their carers, and health and care staff here.
This page will be regularly updated. To suggest resources to add to this list, please contact Alyssa Chase-Vilchez, South West London Executive Officer, at alyssa@swlhealthwatch.org.uk.
Training and informational resources
- MertonVision provides vision impairment awareness training. Contact: Kevin Gregory, CEO, at kevin.gregory@mertonvision.org.uk
- Kingston Association for the Blind also offer vision impairment awareness training. Contact: Odette Battarel, CEO, at ceo@kingstonassociationforblind.org
- Generate, a Wandsworth-based charity, offers GP site visits to discuss how practices can improve accessibility for people with learning disabilities. Contact Chileshe Kaluba, EasyHealth Project Manager: Chileshe.Kaluba@generate-uk.org
- Royal Association for Deaf People provides Deaf awareness training: https://royaldeaf.org.uk/courses/deaf-awareness-training/
- NHS England has free, online Accessible Information Standard training: https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/accessible-information-standard/
- NHS England has also created a Health Literacy Toolkit for staff to create accessible materials for their patients: https://library.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/06/Health-Literacy-Toolkit.pdf
Easy Read materials and other communication guides
- Generate has a comprehensive free library of Easy Read materials that provide information about people’s health. They can also create bespoke materials: https://www.easyhealth.org.uk/
- Transformation Partners in Health creates bespoke Easy Read materials: https://www.transformationpartners.nhs.uk/contact/
- Redbridge Council Public Health Delivery Team and Transformation Partners in Health and Care have created a health communication guide that can be used with people that struggle with written or spoken English (which might include some learning disabled people, foreign language speakers, and BSL users) available here: https://bit.ly/42LOYny
Posters for service providers to display in health services:
- Healthwatch have created a simple information to display people’s rights under the Accessible Information Standard: https://www.canva.com/design/DAGVDvGiZgY/lggk6L-XeMKnjJ_U_kQ3Hw/view?utm_content=DAGVDvGiZgY&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink&mode=preview
- SignHealth provides information about meeting the health needs of Deaf and hard of hearing people, including posters to print: https://signhealth.org.uk/with-deaf-people/campaigns/still-sick-of-it/
