British Sign Language 5-year plan: Department of Health and Social Care (English and BSL versions)
Updated 15 July 2026
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/british-sign-language-5-year-plan-department-of-health-and-social-care/british-sign-language-5-year-plan-department-of-health-and-social-care-english-and-bsl-versions
BSL version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pyLYqI2-rI
Introduction
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is committed to:
- making our communications as inclusive as possible
- improving the accessibility of our public communications for everyone, including the Deaf community and British Sign Language (BSL) users
Over the last 3 years since the introduction of the BSL Act, we have provided BSL translations for a range of communications on priority announcements, such as creating a smokefree generation.
We have also provided BSL translations for consultations such as
However, we recognise we need to do more.
Plan for Change
Improving access to health and care services is an integral and vital part of the government’s Plan for Change and our work in developing the 10 Year Health Plan.
In delivering the Plan for Change, the government announced the integration of DHSC with NHS England. This will form a joint citizen-focused centre that will put people and communities first.
The integrated organisation will form the centre of a new operating model for health and care and will deliver the government’s Health Missions and 10 Year Health Plan. Long term, this will improve public health and deliver high-quality NHS and social care services across England.
As we work towards establishing the newly-integrated organisation over the next year, we will develop a more comprehensive 5-year BSL plan for the new organisation. We aim to publish an updated plan in the 2026 to 2027 reporting year which will set new milestones across the remaining 4 years of the plan.
Actions
Continue to improve the accessibility of our content on GOV.UK, including the use of BSL
We will increase the number of publications, consultations and calls for evidence using BSL.
Increase the use of BSL on our social media channels
We will increase:
- the use of BSL within our social media content
- the number of BSL videos on the DHSC YouTube channel and BSL playlist
Advice to policy teams on using BSL in their publications and consultations, using Government Communication Service BSL guidance
We will strengthen our advice to policy teams about:
- understanding how policy and communications have an effect on citizens
- understanding their needs and requirements
- making our publications and communications as inclusive and accessible as possible
- factoring in time to produce accessible versions, particularly for consultations
Better promote awareness, understanding and use of BSL within DHSC
We will run an internal communications campaign in the 2025 to 2026 reporting year to:
- raise staff awareness of the importance of BSL
- share examples of good practice
We will follow this up with a refreshed awareness campaign for the 2026 to 2027 reporting year for staff in the newly-integrated organisation.
Engagement with the BSL community
We will strengthen the department’s engagement with the BSL community and stakeholders including the RNID.
We will work with the Office for Equality and Opportunity to continue identifying opportunities to engage BSL users.