Article

Disability History Month 2024

Find out what is happening during the month and access resources to help you support disabled staff in the workplace.

11 November 2024

Disability History Month runs from 14 November until 20 December 2024. This year, the focus is on disability livelihood and employment in the health and care sector. 

In 2024, there is still a 30 per cent gap between the employment rate for non-disabled people (83 per cent) and disabled people (54 per cent). 

According to the NHS Staff Survey, nearly 1 in 4 of our NHS workforce has lived experience of a disability or long-term condition. 

Disability History Month is an opportunity to recognise and celebrate those people who bring personal lived experience of disability and long-term health conditions to their careers, teams, leadership and patient care. 

According to the Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) 2023, the number of disabled staff reporting that they received workplace adjustments to perform their duties has increased slightly from 72.2 per cent to 73.4 per cent. However, this still means that over a quarter of disabled staff do not have the adjustments they need to perform their role. Disabled staff also report higher levels of bullying, harassment or abuse than non-disabled staff. If we are to achieve the ambitions set out in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan and the NHS Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Improvement Plan, we need to work harder to create workplaces that are open and inclusive, and where everyone feels they belong. 

  • Disability History Month provides a platform to run local awareness campaigns and an opportunity to: 

    • celebrate the achievements of staff with disabilities
    • share resources to support disabled staff
    • raise awareness of what a disability is; not all disabilities are visible or immediately apparent. 
    • encourage leaders and managers to support staff through compassion and inclusivity
    • encourage staff to record their disability on the NHS Electronic Staff Record and have open conversations with their managers
    • check-in with staff that sufficient adjustments have been made to support those with disabilities to carry out their roles - whether that’s onsite or from home
    • review recruitment practices to ensure they are inclusive. 

    Social media

    Follow us on X @NHSE_Diversity using hashtags #DisabilityHistoryMonth and#UKDHM 

    Email

    Let us know how you are supporting Disability History Month at diversityandinclusion@nhsemployers.org 

  • In the NHS Staff Survey, nearly 1 in 4 of our workforce indicated that they have an illness or long-term condition lasting 12 months or more. The following figures taken from the Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) 2023, show the work still needed to be done to make the NHS disability inclusive:

    • The percentage of disabled staff in senior positions (band 8c and above, including medical consultants and board members) has increased from 1.8 per cent in 2022 to 2.2 per cent in 2023. This is still significantly behind the 4.9 per cent of the total workforce declaring a disability, indicating there is work to be done in supporting disabled staff to progress.
    • Disabled staff are twice as likely to enter the formal capability process as their non-disabled colleagues. This metric has slightly increased in the last year, from 2.01 per cent in 2022 to 2.17 per cent in 2023. 
    • The number of disabled staff reporting that they received workplace adjustments to perform their duties has increased slightly from 72.2 per cent in 2022 to 73.4 per cent in 2023. However, this means that over a quarter of disabled staff still do not have the adjustments they need to perform their role.
    • One third of disabled staff reported having experienced bullying, harassment or abuse from patients or the public. Around a sixth stated experiencing this from managers and one quarter from colleagues. This is notably higher than that experienced by non-disabled staff. 
  • NHS Employers and the NHS Confederation have developed a range of resources including blogs, case studies, videos and guidance to help support disability in the workplace. 

    Webpages 

    Case studies and blogs

    Webinars and podcasts

    • NEW - Listen to our workplace adjustments podcast to hear Roxanne Steel, Accessibility and Inclusion Specialist, Diversity and Ability in conversation with Lydia Warren, inclusion project officer WDES, Barts Health NHS Trust, and Angela Peake, differently-abled buddy scheme project manager, North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust. 
    • Disability discrimination and reasonable adjustments webinar - Watch the recording of this webinar to hear what your legal duty is as an employer to make reasonable adjustments and relevant case law.
    • Listen to our hidden disabilities uncovered podcast to hear Paul Deemer, head of diversity and inclusion, NHS Employers, talking to Pauline Hogarth, chair of the disability staff network group, Able@NEAS, North East Ambulance Service, and Sandi Wassmer, CEO, the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion (enei). 

       

  • The UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities is held annually on 3 December. 

    #PurpleLightUp is a global movement led by PurpleSpace that celebrates and draws attention to the economic contribution of the 386 million disabled employees around the world. It is held annually as a mark of respect to the UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) held annually on 3rd December. 

    You can find resources including zoom backgrounds, graphics and a guide of how to support the campaign on the PurpleSpace website.

  • Bookings for our virtual Disability Summit are now open. Taking place on 19 March 2025, this is an unmissable event for anyone in the health and care sector looking to create a more inclusive working environment for people with disabilities.

    Find out more and book your place.