Celebrating Disability Month across South West London

News - 15 July 2025

July is Disability Pride Month, offering an opportunity to celebrate the identities, cultures, and social contributions of Disabled people. Disability Pride Month seeks to combat stigmas associated with disability, and it also offers an opportunity to raise awareness about the challenges that Disabled people face in daily life.

In observance of Disability Pride Month, Healthwatch organisations across South West London are collaborating to share key findings from our engagement with Disabled people, their carers, and their health and care providers. You can help spread the word by downloading our social media toolkit and posting widely.

Since 2023, Healthwatch organisations in South West London have led on seven projects engaging with Disabled people and their families and carers. They have also led collaborative groups, such as the South West London Community of Practice focussed on the Accessible Information Standard in GP practices and the Kingston All-Age Learning Disability Partnership. Healthwatch have also ensured learnings from these discussions are captured in key strategic documents, such as the Kingston All-Age Autism and ADHD Strategy 2025-2030 (link). 

 

Recommendations

Several key themes have emerged from our research with Disabled people across South West London, their carers, and health and care staff:

  1. Improving health and care staff’s awareness of the experiences of Disabled people and of their responsibilities to support their needs is critical. Many local disabilities charities offer disability awareness trainings, and free on-demand training is also available online.
  2. Many Disabled people are not aware of their rights under the Accessible Information Standard. The Accessible Information Standard describes how health and care services must meet the communication and information needs of Disabled people that affect communication. NHS, local charities, Healthwatch, and others should engage with people covered under the Standard to raise awareness.
  3. Health and care providers often have limited knowledge and time to create accessible communication materials for Disabled people. There is support available locally to help create accessible materials.

 

Tools for implementing recommendations

We have created a South West London-wide resource listing locally-led and national trainings, accessible communication resources, and other resources to support health and care providers improve their understanding and better meet the accessibility needs of Disabled people, especially those with communication needs. Click for further resources >>>

 

More information about our engagement in South West London

The following is a list of ongoing and completed research engagement projects completed with Disabled people since 2023:

  • We are currently conducting work to evaluate BSL services in GP practices across South west London. (Link)
  • We published the South West London Accessible Information Standard project report, which focusses on meeting the communication needs of Disabled people in GP practices. (Link)
  • Healthwatch Croydon has recently conducted a project focussed on understanding and improving experiences of neurodivergent adults within health and social care services in Croydon. (Link)
  • As part of their Youth Out Loud! initiative, Healthwatch Kingston spoke to young Disabled people and their families to create a podcast series about their experiences of accessing health and social care and the impact this has had on their lives. (Link)
  • Healthwatch Kingston investigated the health and care needs of socially isolated, physically Disabled adults. (Link)
  • Healthwatch Richmond did research with parent carers and support workers who provide services for young people with special educational needs and disabilities. (Link)
  • Healthwatch Wandsworth conducted research on the autism diagnosis pathway for 0-8 year olds. (Link)

 

Trainings and resources 

We designed this page to provide support and resources for health and care providers to improve their ability to meet the accessibility needs of people with disabilities that affect communication. Members of our South West London Accessible Information Standard Community of Practice, a group that includes people with lived experience, GP practice and Integrated Care Board staff, and Disability charities, contributed to this list. 

This page will be regularly updated. To suggest resources to add to this list, please contact Alyssa Chase-Vilchez, South West London Executive Officer, at alyssa@swlhealthwatch.org.uk.

Trainings and informational resources

 

Easy Read materials and other communication guides

  • Generate has a comprehensive free library of Easy Read materials that provide information about people’s health. They can also create bespoke materials: https://www.easyhealth.org.uk/
  • Transformation Partners in Health creates bespoke Easy Read materials: https://www.transformationpartners.nhs.uk/contact/
  • Redbridge Council Public Health Delivery Team and Transformation Partners in Health and Care have created a health communication guide that can be used with people that struggle with written or spoken English (which might include some learning Disabled people, foreign language speakers, and BSL users) available here: https://bit.ly/42LOYny

 

Posters for service providers to display in health services:

 

Materials to distribute to patients:

  • The NHS has created an easy read guide to help patients access GP online services.

 

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Disability Pride Month Training and Resources

We designed this page to provide support and resources for health and care providers to improve their ability to meet the accessibility needs of people with disabilities that affect communication.
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