Psychiatrists Call for Action on NHS Disability Bias

The Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) has urged mental health employers in England to adopt 15 measures to reduce disability discrimination in the NHS workforce.

NHS England data show that staff with disabilities are twice as likely to report discrimination from a colleague or manager compared with their nondisabled peers —12.2% vs 5.8%.

The College said that almost a quarter of employers still fail to provide consistent adjustments for staff with disabilities, highlighting a gap between legislation and practice.

Its new campaign, Delivering for Disability, is supported by new guidance, Providing Reasonable Adjustments — Essential Guidance for Mental Health Employers. The initiative is designed to empower NHS services to offer practical support for staff with disabilities and long-term health conditions. 

The guidance “bridges the gap between policy and lived experience” to enable all staff to thrive, said the college.

Disability in the NHS Workforce

More than 52,000 NHS staff (3.7%) declared a disability through the NHS Electronic Staff Record in 2021, an increase of 6870compared with 2020.

“Disability discrimination comes at an immense cost to individuals, teams, and ultimately impacts our ability to retain experienced professionals and thereby look after patients,” said RCPsych president Dr Lade Smith.

The guidance sets out 15 recommendations covering four key areas for mental health employers to implement. These include developing a co-produced disability workforce strategy and implementation plan, providing an independent and confidential point of contact for staff to raise concerns, ensuring leaders and managers are aware of reasonable adjustments and mitigations and providing reasonable adjustments within a defined, agreed timeframe.

Supporting NHS Staff

Smith said that reasonable adjustments help staff feel valued, reduce sickness absence, improve retention, and strengthen teamwork. Examples include safe access to buildings, reduced or compressed hours, exemption from on-call duties, and additional breaks to manage health conditions or sensory needs.

Work is underway across NHS services in all four UK nations to tackle disability discrimination, but a unified framework is needed to accelerate progress, the college noted.

“Tackling the barriers that interfere with people with disabilities being able to give their best at work is imperative to improving productivity,” said Smith.

Rob Hicks is a retired National Health Service doctor. A well-known TV and radio broadcaster, he has written several books and has regularly contributed to national newspapers, magazines, and online publications. He is based in the United Kingdom.