Why inclusion in the workplace is an essential part of our culture in the NHS

This guest blog has been written Paul Deemer, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at NHS Employers, a sponsor of this year’s National Inclusion Week. 

By sharing a bit about how the NHS supports disabled employees in the workplace, Paul gives us some real-life examples of the impact and benefits of making inclusion an essential part of an organisation’s culture.  

Celebrating inclusion

Developing a truly diverse and inclusive workforce creates a culture that celebrates and draws on the skills and the valuable lived experiences of all employees. An organisation where everyone feels valued and cared for improves retention, has greater productivity and ultimately greater staff satisfaction, resulting in improved experiences and outcomes for patients and service users.

NHS organisations are rightly required to take action to address issues faced by disabled staff, such as patchy access to reasonable adjustments. So, it is now even more important than ever that the NHS is inclusive and welcomes disabled people.

Why the NHS is trying to be more disability inclusive

In a new report submitted to the United Nations (UN), the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) warned that many disabled people continue to face discrimination in the UK, and the situation is getting worse. However, within the NHS and the wider health and social care sector, there is hard work being undertaken to try to ensure that the workplace experience of disabled staff is improved. The NHS England EDI Improvement Plan sets out targeted actions to address the prejudice and discrimination faced by disabled staff and staff with other protected characteristics.

This November will see the NHS hold its annual Disability Summit. One of our summit’s themes is around making health and social care a safe and welcoming place for disabled people to work. The summit will showcase good practice around addressing pay gaps, embedding inclusive recruitment and talent management strategies, addressing health inequalities in the workforce and creating a psychologically safe working environment.

To create an inclusive workplace for disabled staff, it is important that NHS employers understand how many disabled staff they employ and the issues they face. However, the declaration of staff disability varies greatly between organisations, ranging from around 3.5 per cent to 12.5 per cent, whereas we know from the NHS Staff Survey that around 20 per cent of NHS staff have a disability. Some staff choose not to share that they have a disability, whereas others with long-term conditions such as cancer or mental health, may not be aware that their condition is defined under the Equality Act 2010 as a disability.