THE UK’s largest hearing loss charity, Action on Hearing Loss, is urging GPs and other health and social care practitioners in Hampshire to ensure that the 257,000 residents who are deaf or have hearing loss receive the right communication support.

The call comes as a review by NHS England published last Friday found that almost a year since the Accessible Information Standard became law, more than half of patients who responded to a survey have not noticed any improvement in getting accessible information or communication support from NHS services.

The standard, which came into effect on August 1, 2016, requires all publicly funded health and adult social care organisations to meet the communication needs of people with a disability, impairment or sensory loss, including the one-in-six people living with hearing loss and deafness.

The review found that more than two-thirds of patients had not been asked about their information and communication needs by NHS services over the last six months. Almost a third of patients also reported that they don’t usually get or have never received communication support they need from NHS services.

Many people with deafness and hearing loss still struggled to contact GP and hospital services when they needed to, and felt that staff did not know how to communicate with them.

The release of the review comes ahead of Care Quality Commission plans to incorporate adherence to the Accessible Information Standard into its inspection criteria.This is due to come into effect in October.