Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 2:00 pm on 25 January 2023.
Thank you, Minister. We both attended the Royal National Institute of Blind People event last week here in the Senedd, and we heard patients from four different health boards provide a catalogue of woe about their struggle to get the services that they need and deserve. These testimonies were backed up by a recent survey by the RNIB, which indicated that one in three blind or partially sighted people had missed an appointment or had their health affected because they didn't receive information that was accessible to them. Over half received information about their healthcare from their GP in a format they couldn't read, and even more surprisingly, over one in 10 had been asked by their GP surgery what their preferred communication method is, and how they would like to receive information. The all-Wales standard for accessible communications and information for people with sensory loss was written in 2003, and communication methods have obviously blossomed since then, so I wondered if you could tell us, Minister, what work the Government is doing to update them and ensure that health boards are implementing them in all their work.