Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to Guy’s and St Thomas’ critical care recovery website: https://gstt.criticalcarerecovery.com

This website is run by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust post ICU recovery team who are contactable icuclinic@gstt.nhs.uk. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

change colours, contrast levels and fonts
zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen and without content being truncated or overlapping
navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver and Talkback)
We've worked hard to make the website text as simple to understand as possible but recognise that not all pages are currently written in plain English.

There is advice available online to help you make your device easier to use if you have a disability, including from the AbilityNet charity.

How accessible this website is

We believe that the web pages are fully accessible. However, the web pages link to some documents, mainly in PDF format, some of which are not fully accessible to screen reader software.

The website was completely redeveloped in May 2022 and all the previous accessibility issues were addressed in the new design, taking into account these issues.

1 in 4 people have a disability, so our new site is designed to allow everyone to access the information they need.
We have worked with people with disabilities to design and test our new site to make it as accessible as possible regardless of background, ability or needs. This was not as an afterthought, but as the main driver behind how it looks and works.
There are fewer words and a reduced number of PDFs to comply with legal requirements on accessibility. PDFs are used only where the information is statutory or complex and cannot be converted to webpages.
We follow the web content accessibility guidelines, and except for the documents mentioned, the website partially conforms to WCAG 2.1 level AA standards, making our content more accessible for people with additional needs including neurodiverse and disabled people.
We have tested our site extensively, both with users on different browsers and devices and through an independent accessibility testing partner to ensure we meet required standards.

How to request information in an accessible format

If you need information on this website in a different format such as accessible PDF, large print, easy read or Braille, please contact us.

We will consider your request and reply to you within 5 working days.

If you cannot view our maps to find your way around our hospitals, contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) for directions.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

If you find any problems which aren't listed on this page, please email us to let us know.

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you contact us with a complaint about the accessibility of our website and you are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We provide interpreting and translation services through the language support department. This can be in the form of face-to-face, video or telephone.

If you need an interpreter, or information about the care you are receiving in the language or format of your choice, please call 020 7188 8815 or email languagesupport@gstt.nhs.uk.

Technical information about this website's accessibility

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust post ICU recovery team is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

This website contains documents, mainly in PDF format, some of which are not fully accessible to screen reader software.
Content that's not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

What we're doing to improve accessibility

Work is continuing to remove those documents which aren't needed as soon as possible. Where information is still required, we plan to republish it in HTML format.
There are some documents designed for printing. These include our annual reports and The GiST magazine. We'll continue to offer these as PDFs together with a HTML page that includes a summary of the document.

We use online tools to perform a readability test and carry out basic accessibility checks when uploading new content to the website. We regularly commission an independent accessibility audit on a sample of pages to highlight areas requiring improvement. Our aim is to conduct accessibility audits every year.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 28 April 2022. It was last reviewed on 28 April 2022.

While the new website was being designed, we identified 15 pages to include all the different page templates and content types. We tested the code using manual testing process. This test also uncovered some design and content issues.

We aim to regularly do an annual audit of our content, design and code.

Contact us

Email: icuclinic@gstt.nhs.uk

Phone: 020 7188 5577

Last updated: August 2022