Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 January 2015
75. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Health the details of the new Health Service Executive guidelines on providing accessible services to patients with disabilities; if a right to health care was considered in these guidelines; if any additional funding will be provided to ensure that these guidelines can be exercised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2413/15]
View answerEach member of staff working in health and social care services has a responsibility, relevant to their own role, to ensure that services are accessible to people with disabilities, and that their interactions and communication with people with disabilities are appropriate, respectful, and are delivered in ways that people with disabilities can receive and understand.
The National Guidelines on Accessible Health and Social Care Services were developed to provide practical guidance to all health and social care staff about how they can provide accessible services. While these guidelines refer to specific disabilities, if we take steps to routinely provide accessible services for all, we will positively influence the experience of everybody who uses our services. The guidelines, developed in conjunction with the National Disability Authority, will help all staff to build on their existing knowledge and to recognise that people with disabilities are often experts in what they need. The key message reinforced throughout the guidelines is Ask, Listen, Learn, Plan and Do.
The issue in accessible health services is not a requirement for additional funding or a right to services. It is part of a wider universal access agenda across all public services. The appointment of access officers throughout the country will embed improvements in the quality of our health services. Given that health and social services are provided in hundreds of locations throughout the country, access officers are necessary where there are service users, patients and clients e.g. in hospitals, primary care centres, health and social care clinics or other locations where health and social care is delivered. A plan for the appointment and training of access officers is underway for 2015.
The first challenge is to acknowledge that access is everyone’s responsibility. The second challenge is to help staff understand that access is about more than wheelchair ramps and automated doors - it is about the big and the small things - how consent is obtained, how medication is explained, how appointments are managed and assigned, how bad news is broken - whether a person is blind, deaf or hard of hearing, has autism, an intellectual disability or any other condition.
