Click to view Emergency Department (A&E) waiting times
66 People
Number of people in A&E department
1:20 Hours
Average wait to be seen by a clinician
1:56 Hours
Average time in the department

Accessible Information Standard and Reasonable Adjustments

Accessible Information Standard and Reasonable Adjustments

The Accessible Information Standard (AIS) is a mandatory ‘information standard’ for all organisations that provide NHS or adult social care.

Reasonable adjustments are a legal requirement to make sure health services are accessible to all disabled people.

The AIS aims to ensure that people who have a disability or sensory loss receive information that they can access and understand, for example in large print, braille or via email, and that they receive professional communication support if they need it, for example from a British Sign Language interpreter.

Patients may have a reasonable adjustments flag on their electronic health record, which will have been added with their consent.

Reasonable adjustments flags:

  • indicate what support patients need to help them use health services.
  • might also record details of the patient's physical or sensory disability 

Please let the hospital department know if you have a disability, impairment or sensory loss, and the kind of information and communication support that you need. They will record this on your health records and will it help us prepare for the next time you use our services.

More information on the Accessible Information Standard is available in these formats: 

We are committed to actively promoting equality of opportunity for all disabled people. We will work to ensure institutional systems do not discriminate, and that the day to day experience of disabled people entering the Trust as patients, staff, visitors or volunteers is positive.

We also recognise that disability is extremely diverse and that no one disabled person’s experience is exactly the same as another. We seek to ensure that we:

  • represent the full spectrum of disability issues in our actions to promote disability equality
  • remove the social and physical barriers faced by disabled people.

All information on these pages can be made available in large print or Braille on request - please telephone 0118 322 8338 or email: PALS@royalberkshire.nhs.uk   

Learning Disabilities

Contact our Learning Disability Liaison Nurses on 0118 322 8159 for help and advice (Mon-Fri office hours).

Easy Read leaflets

The Trust has a range of Easy Read leaflets for patients with communication difficulties. 

If you would like any Trust information leaflet in Easy Read format, please contact one of the Learning Disability Liaison Nurses: email: LearningDisabilityReferrals@royalberkshire.nhs.uk or call: 0118 322 8159. 

For support to read this website, each page has the Reachdeck accessibility and translation toolbar.

Macmillan Cancer Support have produced many useful easy read cancer information booklets for people with learning disabilities. These range from screening to having tests, treatments and end of life care.

Hospital Passport 

The hospital passport is designed to give hospital staff helpful information about you.

Your passport includes important information about you as well as your likes and dislikes and helps all the hospital staff know how to make you feel comfortable and safe. 

If you go into hospital, your hospital passport should go with you. The doctors and nurses should make a copy and put the copy in your hospital notes.

If you are going to be an inpatient, and stay in the hospital overnight, your hospital passport should be next to your bed so that anyone treating you can take a look at it.

Download and fill in your hospital passport.

Hospital Communication Book

Useful images and advice to help you communicate with people with a wide range of needs in hospital.

Download the Hospital Communication Book. 

Shared Decision Making

Health Education England have produced two easy read guides aimed at giving you the tools you need to have a conversation with a healthcare professional and make decisions with them on your care:

Patient Advice and Liaison Service

If you have an issue or query that you would like us to help you resolve, our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) team may be able to help.

Download the PALS easy read leaflet.

 

Sensory Disabilities

This website has the Reachdeck toolbar which gives accessibility support you to read this website, using text-to-speech functionality and text magnification to enlarge text and read it aloud.

How to use NHS 111 via British Sign Language (BSL) https/signvideo.co.uk/nhs111/ 

How to make and receive BSL calls https:/signvideo.co.uk/

Check if a BSL interpreter has been booked for your appointment https:/www.word360.co.uk/check-a-booking

Berkshire Vision, a charity supporting the visually impaired.

Low Vision Guide - a communication tool for people with visual impairments.

 

 

Interpreting and translation

In line with the Equality Act 2010 and the NHS Constitution, individuals have the right to access NHS services with effective communication support, including access to a qualified interpreter when needed, to ensure informed consent and equal access to healthcare.

Check if an interpreter has been booked for your appointment https:/www.word360.co.uk/check-a-booking

This website has the Reachdeck toolbar which gives accessibility support you to read this website in different languages. Download a step by step user guide in English and Arabic, Chinese, Nepalese, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian and Urdu.