Assistive Products List

That this House recognises the importance of creating a national Assistive Product List (APL) to ensure that older people and people with visible and non-visible disabilities have equitable access to the essential assistive products they need to achieve a good quality of life; highlights that 50 major UK assistive technology specialist organisations including the British Dyslexia Association, Leonard Cheshire, SCOPE, the Royal National Institute for Deaf people, the Royal National Institute of Blind people, the British Healthcare Trades Association, Hft, MENCAP and the British Association of Prosthetists and Orthotists have already joined together to create the first UK APL in recognition of the value of this World Health Organisation initiative that is based on the impactive Essential Medicines List devised in 1977; commends the British Assistive Technology Association for leading the initiative on creating that list and draws attention to the work that that large coalition of stakeholders has been doing over several months to create a wide-ranging initial list of assistive products from hearing aids to crutches, wheelchairs and digital assistive products, in preparation for a Government-backed survey and consultation exercise; and joins with that unified community to call on the Government to include a national APL survey and a national consultation exercise to create a UK Essential Assistive Products List as part of any new disability and ageing strategy, to help address the gaps and barriers to accessing assistive technology that currently hinders the quality of life of so many.