NHSScotland and the DDA - Scotland's Health on the Web (SHOW)

All NHSScotland Bodies, as service providers, are required to comply with all aspects of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), in particular Section 21: Access to Goods and Services.

Click here for a legal definition of a "service provider" within the context of the Act.

NHS MEL(1998)80, issued to NHSScotland in December 1998, gave advice about Section 21 of the DDA and the preparation of good practice guidance to support its implementation. An Annex to the letter also gave details of the requirements under Section 21 and the implementation programme.

NHS HDL(2002)80, issued to NHSScotland on 1 November 2002, provides a summary of the progress on the implementation of Section 21 of the DDA, based upon information provided during a Service-wide survey undertaken in March 2002.

NHS HDL(2003)31, issued on 8 July 2003, provides an overview of information supplied by Trusts and other Holding Bodies on progress in undertaking access audits of premises in the context of Section 21 of the DDA. The overview is based on information provided as at 14 February 2003 but it is expected that many NHSScotland Health Bodies may by now be close to completing this work.

Useful information and guidance on physical adjustments can be found under services and transport on the Disability Rights Commission website.

NHS HDL(2003)64, issued on 17 December 2003, provides details of an allocation of £1.5 million made available by the Scottish Executive Health Department to promote good practice by Primary Care contractors in the promotion and fulfillment of the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

NHS HDL(2006)6, issued on 7 February 2006, provides an overview of the information supplied by NHSScotland Bodies on their progress in undertaking access audits of premises and estimated costings of reasonable steps needed to ensure access to services for all patients in the context of Section 21 of the DDA.

Achieving fair access: positive action, real change - good practice guidance

Good practice guidance has been developed by the Fair For All-Disability team to support all staff within NHS Scotland to understand and meet their responsibilities under Part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 (access to goods, services, facilities and premises).
This guidance is about improving access and removing the barriers which disabled people experience when they use NHS services. The guidance is aimed at all NHS staff and policy makers within the Scottish Executive. It offers both strategic and practical guidance to tackling the barriers disabled people face in accessing health services.
Dr Kevin Woods, Chief Executive NHSScotland issued a letter to Chief Executives of NHS Boards about his commitment towards the guidance and to enlist boards’ support in improving the quality of services for disabled people.

To view the guidance and the ‘Dear Colleague’ letter, please go to: www.fairforalldisability.org.uk

For further details please contact: Alastair Pringle

Health Facilities Scotland has produced an Access Audit Checklist and an Access Audit Toolkit for use by NHSScotland in assessing healthcare premises. Health Facilities Scotland has also produced guidance on Fully Accessible Toilets. Further details can be found on the Health Facilities Scotland website.
(Note: direct access to these documents is restricted to the Members area of the HFS site, or to those connecting via NHSNet. Other users should contact HFS directly on 0141 332 3455 or by email.)

The GP Premises Directions contains guidelines for NHS Bodies on setting appropriate local budgets in order to prioritise programmes for compliance of GP premises within the overall local service strategy through improvement grants.

NHS Circular PCA(P)(2003)4, issued on 21 March 2003, gives details of a programme of special funding for 2003-4 only for a scheme to develop community pharmacy contractor premises by improving patient access and security and also provides guidance for local community pharmacy premises initiatives.

The Disability Rights Commission has extensive guidance available at its website.

The General Practitioners Committee recently issued guidance to its members providing advice on physical adjustments to GP premises which General Practitioners and Health Board/Primary Care Trusts may wish to take into account when addressing DDA compliance issues. ( Please note that the guidance contains references to the English Access Audit Checklist. Users in Scotland should refer to the NHSScotland Property and Environment Forum's Access Audit tools and guidance detailed above.)

JMU Access Partnership is a not-for-profit pan disability access consultancy supported by the Royal National Institute for the Blind, specialising in biuldings, transport and the street environment.

The Centre for Accessible Environments (CAE) is an information provider and a forum for collaborative dialogue between providers and users on how the built environment can best be made, or modified, to achieve inclusion by design.