Responding to the new NHS Workforce Disability Equality Standard report the Royal College of Nursing’s Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said:
“The report suggests some small improvements are being made by NHS organisations in relation to the experience of disabled staff.
“But the fact only 76.6% of staff are receiving reasonable adjustments means that almost a quarter of NHS staff with disabilities are struggling to work in a safe and conducive environment.
“Employers need to take a different approach to long-term sickness absence or disability – as opposed to short-term sickness – to avoid a situation where because reasonable adjustments aren’t made, disabled staff end up being redeployed or even dismissed.
“It is vital that managers know what options are available – such as working from home, compressed hours and the right equipment – to enable disabled staff to do their jobs effectively.
“There is significant work to be done to improve the situation for disabled staff if the NHS is to become an employer of first choice in every community.
“At a time when there are tens of thousands of nursing vacancies across health and care we need to ensure every single member of staff feels valued – safe staffing is about treating everyone in the workplace with dignity and enabling them to do their jobs effectively.”
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