South West London Healthwatch Accessible Information Standard Project

Working with patients and carers

We are collaborating with voluntary sector colleagues across South West London to reach people with different disabilities. We are designing surveys and hosting focus groups to hear about the experiences of patients and their carers. We are learning how well GP practices are meeting people’s communication needs and listening to people’s recommendations for how GP practices can further improve accessibility.

Working with GP practices

We are interested in working with anyone who engages with patients through their job at a GP practice, including, but not limited to, clinicians, nurses, receptionists, social prescribers, and patient navigators. Our goal is to make it easier and more efficient for GP practices to adhere to the Standard, and not to name and shame practices for poor implementation. We are working with GP practices in the following ways:

• Requesting their participation in a survey to help us understand how the Accessible Information Standard is currently implemented in practices, and the barriers and facilitators to meeting people’s communication needs. (This survey is currently open).
• Creating a community of practice that can help create and share strategies that respond to people’s recommendations as well as to the findings from the GP practice survey. We hope to have our first meeting in June 2024. GP practices can sign up to receive updates.
• Understanding what has changed for patients and carers because of this project. This evaluation will take place in early 2025.