What is inclusive design and why is it important?/in /by

Samuel Martin and Ellen Doyle have been leading the development of principles to help teams at NHS England design more inclusively. 

‘Inclusive design’ and 'accessibility' are often used interchangeably, but they are different things.  

Mother awake for 60 hours as son’s care breaks down/in /by
NHS system for seriously ill people requiring home care is struggling to provide sufficient support.
Porton Down: Can this laboratory help stop the next pandemic?/in /by
James Gallagher meets the scientists who work at one of the most secretive research bases in the UK.
US approves postpartum depression pill/in /by
Clinical trials showed the drug helped to reduce depressive symptoms in as little as three days.
NHS to expand use of private sector to tackle waits/in /by
Ministers in England want to unlock spare capacity, but Labour accuse them of dither and delay.
Chance discovery helps fight against malaria/in /by
Scientists have found a strain of bacteria which they believe could prevent spread of the disease.
Nose-picking health workers more likely to get Covid, study shows/in /by
The habit among health staff could contribute to virus spread in hospitals, researchers say.
GPs given freedom to order heart checks direct/in /by
Referrals for respiratory tests will also be allowed in bid to speed up diagnosis in England.
How we created a roadmap for the NHS website/in /by

James Higgott, Lead Product Manager for the NHS website, talks about how his team is using a comprehensive roadmap to help them focus on outcomes, not outputs.

We recently published an update to the roadmap for the NHS website (nhs.uk). This describes what we will (and won’t) do to meet user needs and organisational goals on the UK’s biggest health website.

Previously, the roadmap we used internally was more like a Gantt chart than a true roadmap. Each item had a start and an end date and a description of the output, not the outcome.

In March 2023, we made significant changes to how we created and presented the roadmap. This is how we did it.

How do you put a digital service on paper?/in /by

User researcher Fern Williams describes how we created a new paper patient registration form to complement the online ‘Register with a GP surgery’ service, allowing everyone to have a consistent user experience and leaving no one digitally excluded.

One of the guiding principles of the ‘Register with a GP surgery’ service is to be accessible and inclusive to all. Though there is a shift towards digital to make registering with a GP surgery easier and more convenient for both patients and practice staff, we haven’t forgotten the importance of developing a paper registration form for those who prefer not to or can’t use a digital service.