Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) 2022 key findings and actions

Key findings

• 2022 data shows an increase of 0.5 percentage points in the disability declaration rate to 4.2 per cent of the total workforce.  
• The percentage of disabled staff in senior positions (bands 8c and above, including medical consultants and board members) has increased from 3.0 per cent in 2019 to 4.2 per cent in 2022.

What can organisations do?

Improve the confidence of staff so they feel comfortable declaring their disability: 

• Run campaigns, consultations or surveys to understand views and encourage declaration. 
• Support staff to set up a disability network, guidance can be found in the NHS England: staff networks toolkit. 
• Link with external disability networking organisations like Purple Space. 
• Aspire to Level 3 of Disability Confident. 

Key findings

• Disabled staff are twice as likely to enter the formal capability process as their non-disabled colleagues.
• The number of disabled staff reporting they received workplace adjustments to perform their duties has reduced to 72.2 per cent. This means more than a third of disabled staff do not have the adjustments they need to perform their role.

What can organisations do?

• Have an awareness of how conditions can affect employees and accommodate reasonable adjustment requests so that disabled staff can continue in their roles. Find out how to make reasonable adjustments and provide adequate training so managers are aware of what support is available. 
• Implement an NHS health passport for disabled staff to record details about their disability, health condition or learning disability. Read our guidelines on the prevention and management of sickness absence. 
• Respond to concerns that are raised and find out what actions you can take as an employer. 
• Access resources that support disabled staff in the workplace 

Key finding 

• One third of disabled staff reported having experienced bullying, harassment or abuse from patients, service users or the public. Around a fifth stated experiencing this from managers and one quarter from colleagues. This is notably higher than that experienced by non-disabled staff. 

What can organisations do?

Create a psychologically safe environment with a speak up and listening culture. 

• Listen to staff with disabilities 
• Implement a just and learning culture  
• Read our top tips for supporting the psychological safety of staff  
• Embed a healthy speaking up culture | NHS Employers 

Key finding 

• The number of disabled board members has increased by 1.0 percentage point to 4.6 per cent.

What can organisations do?

• Encourage board members to declare and speak up about their disabilities.
• Support your disabled staff to progress in their careers. 
• Raise awareness of the Disabled NHS Directors Network. This network was created to strengthen the collective impact and voice of disabled leaders and also the voice of disabled staff within the NHS. It provides a peer support network for disabled NHS directors. 
• Review and improve your recruitment and retention processes so they are more inclusive. Find out how to recruit and support disabled staff in the NHS. 

Key finding 

• 99.5 per cent of trusts facilitate the voices of disabled staff to be heard. 

What can organisations do?

Strive to improve your staff survey results through better staff engagement: 

• Read this blog on how to adopt a staff engagement approach by Steven Weeks, lead for staff engagement and the NHS Staff Survey at NHS Employers.   
• Learn about Bradford District Care's NHS Staff Survey journey and the steps they took to improve their NHS Staff Survey results.
• Watch this webinar to find out how staff networks can support the health and wellbeing of staff and learn how to build a strong staff network for disabled colleagues. 

Key finding 

• Trusts that are rated outstanding in the CQC well-led domain show evidence of being better employers for disabled staff. 

What can organisations do?

Consider how you can support your disabled staff, for example, compare data held about harassment, bullying or abuse with exit interviews and grievance procedure data. Take a look at these trusts who have been recognised for their work:

• East London NHS Foundation Trust CQC rating  
• Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s CQC report (in particular, see pages 5 and 14).

Key finding 

• The percentage of disabled staff experiencing presenteeism is at its lowest level for five years. However, at just under 30 per cent, this is still significantly higher than for non-disabled staff. 

What can organisations do?

Consider implementing a well-designed disability leave policy to help disabled staff feel less pressured to attend work when unwell: 

• Take a look at this guidance on implementing an inclusive approach to disability leave. 
• Access guidance on holding effective health and wellbeing conversations. 
• Review and improve your flexible working arrangements.