MY Purple Promise

Following the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), which came in to effect in 2016, we have developed MY Purple Promise.

AIS aims to make sure that people have access to information that they can understand and any communication support they might need. All organisations that provide NHS or adult social care must follow the Accessible Information Standard.

We will strive to provide an excellent patient experience each and every time, by continually improving our communication and accessibility standards for patients who require additional support to access our services.

MY Purple Promise is;

• we will ask everyone if they have any information or communication needs, and find out how best we can meet those needs,
• we will record a patients accessible information needs on their file in a set way to ensure we provide an excellent patient experience each and every time,
• we will look out for the MY Purple Promise symbol flagged on patients files and familiarise ourselves with the individual needs of each patient we care for.

Watch this short video of Jane Hopkins, Ophthalmology Senior Sister explaining why we developed the MY Purple Promise Initiative.

MY Purple Promise will look to flag access needs such as:

• Interpreter required (Foreign Language & BSL)
• Correspondence/Results required on Yellow Pape,
• Correspondence/Results required in ‘Easy Read’
• Correspondence/Results required in Braille, or Audio Format.
• Procedure Leaflets in ‘Easy Read’ Format or Common Foreign Languages
• Consent Forms in ‘Easy Read’ or Common Foreign Languages
• Prescription Aid – Larger Fonts
• Physical Impairment/Disability

We will:

• Share information about a person’s needs with other NHS and adult social care providers, when they have consent or permission to do so.

Further information about the Accessible Information Standard

AIS tells organisations how to make information accessible to patients, service users and their carers and parents. This includes making sure that people get information in different formats if they need it such as large print, braille, easy read and via email.

The Accessible Information Standard also tells organisations how to support people’s communication needs, for example by offering support from a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter, deafblind manual interpreter or an advocate.

More information on the Accessible Information Standard can be found on the NHS England website.