Accessible information: survey shows many patients still not getting the support they need

Healthwatch England have published the findings from their Your Care, Your Way survey, which asked patients whether they are receiving clear, understandable information from their healthcare providers. While the survey was run nationally, we’re pleased to see that Brent had the fifth highest response rate – meaning that the results are likely to reflect the reality for people living in the borough.

The  analysis looks specifically at the views from 605 people who said that they need support communicating with healthcare staff, and can be downloaded at the bottom of the page. Here are some headlines from the report.

Understanding information and asking for support

• One in five (20%) said they struggle to understand most of the information given by services.
• Over half (51%) had asked for support to understand information.
• Five in ten (53%) had asked for support to contact services.
• Four in ten (44%) had asked for support to communicate with staff.

Getting support

• Three in ten (30%) said they rarely or never get the support they need.
• Two in ten (22%) had been refused information in a format they need.
• Over one in four (28%) had been refused support to understand healthcare information

Other issues

• Over a third (38%) said not being provided with accessible information affected their mental health and wellbeing.
• Nearly half (48%) feel uncomfortable asking for accessible information.
• Over half (53%) said staff attitudes affected their ability to ask for support.
• Nearly half (47%) think how services communicate has got worse since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.