NHS: Disability
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is being done to support disabled people working in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth
Local employers across the National Health Service have arrangements in place for supporting disabled staff including occupational health provision, employee support programmes, and a focus on healthy working environments.
Employers have a legal duty under the Equality Act 2010 to consider and make reasonable adjustments for employees who have a disability, taking advice from their local occupational health and human resources department. This includes removing or reducing any substantial disadvantages that employees with a disability may face compared to someone who does not have a disability.
The NHS Workforce Disability Equality Standard sets out metrics to enable organisations to understand the experiences of disabled staff and to develop and publish an action plan. Year on year comparison enables trusts to demonstrate progress against the indicators of disability equality.
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