Accessibility Plus

A patient who communicates by eye movement and blinking — AAC training for hospitals in progress

A workshop for doctors, nurses, paramedics, triage and registration staff that prepares them to serve a patient who communicates only by eye movement or blinking — e.g. in locked-in syndrome, advanced neuromuscular diseases or after a stroke. It teaches how to agree a communication code with the patient within minutes, obtain critical medical information (pain, allergies, consent) and avoid talking “over the patient’s head”.

What sets the programme apart is that the training is co-delivered with an expert by experience who himself communicates only by blinking. The online format (8 h) allows him to run the sessions without medical transport. The programme is being prepared for delivery in a hospital provider operating in four locations; on-site operational coordination is led by Agata Sawicka.

Communication at registration: geriatric patients and patients with dementia in progress

A certified course for receptionists, medical secretaries and helpline staff: 31 hours in two phases — 16 h of group lectures and 15 h of individual 1:1 workshops with each participant. It covers pace and person-centred language, eliminating infantilising speech, validating emotions, the teach-back method, telephone conversations, de-escalation, working with a caregiver and GDPR at the desk.

The programme directly addresses the communication and organisational areas of the Ministry of Health Accessibility Standards. We measure it with indicators: no-shows of geriatric patients, complaints about communication at registration, incidents in the waiting room, a patient and caregiver experience survey, and a before-and-after competence assessment.

Accessibility training 100% funded — the IZOB pathway active

Together with Grzegorz Piecek, President of the Management Board of the “Green Business Responsibility Initiative” Employers’ Association (IZOB), we give facilities access to a mechanism that funds both trainings above under the FERS project “Accessibility Institute – training and advisory for companies” (no. FERS.01.03-IP.09-0002/24, Accessibility Academy, running until 31.12.2027). Participation is 100% funded as de minimis aid, after verification of documents and signing of the support agreement. The facility chooses the scope — AAC or communication with geriatric patients and patients with dementia — only after signing the agreement.

Healthcare Poland acts as the subject-matter curator and supports hospitals in preparing the application documents. The project is operated by Instytut ADN together with Fundacja Kultury bez Barier.

WCAG readiness audits and gap analyses service

Digital accessibility audits of websites, BIP, e-registration and patient portals are carried out by the HCPL Quality, Audit and Certification Centre team led by Piotr Welenc. The audit combines automated tests with manual verification of WCAG success criteria, covers the accessibility statement and ends with a list of fixes for the website contractor and a test after implementation.

Gap analysis comes before the audit: it shows which obligations the facility already meets, which it does not, and what no single action covers. For private hospitals with digital registration, online payments or a patient portal we also analyse the requirements of the European Accessibility Act — the healthcare service itself is, as a rule, not covered, but the facility’s digital and consumer channels may be.

40-hour programme “Accessibility in healthcare” and the audit-through-training model in preparation

The ten-module programme developed by the HCPL Audit and Certification Centre covers the legal framework, architectural, digital and information-communication audit, and the accessibility improvement plan. In the model for large providers, the facility’s team learns the audit methodology by carrying out, under the supervision of HCPL experts, a real audit of its own facility — the facility ends up with a completed audit, an improvement plan that forms the basis of the statutory report, and a system for further accessibility management. The model is being prepared with the regional (voivodeship) scale in mind.

Accessible Patient Pathway — a concept with LifeOnWheelz concept

An organisational protocol for guiding a patient with special needs through the whole hospital pathway — from registration, through triage and hospitalisation, to discharge. It includes a needs questionnaire before admission, a patient accessibility profile in the records, an adapted communication protocol, the role of a Patient Accessibility Coordinator and a discharge summary in easy-to-read text. The concept was developed with LifeOnWheelz as co-designer — in line with the principle “nothing about us without us” — with a view to the Wielkie Jutra “Accessibility+” Social Innovation Incubator and a pilot in PFSz network hospitals.

Accessibility training and CMJ accreditation under analysis

Hospitals ask whether patient communication training can be used in the accreditation process of the Centre for Quality Monitoring in Healthcare (CMJ). Piotr Welenc assesses how the AAC and dementia communication programmes fit the accreditation standards on patient communication — so that work on accessibility also prepares the facility for accreditation.