Disability Confident Leader

We are committed to taking positive action for disabled people and are recognised as a Disability Confident Leader. The Disability Confident Scheme is a Government run scheme which holds employers to a standard and helps to:

• Challenge attitudes towards disability
• Increase understanding of disability
• Remove barriers
• Ensure that disabled people have the opportunities to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations.

The Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES)

The WDES came into force in 2019 and is a set of ten specific measures that enable NHS organisations to compare the experiences of Disabled and Non-Disabled staff. The WDES has been commissioned by the Equality and Diversity Council (EDC) and developed through a pilot and extensive engagement with NHS Trusts and key stakeholders. It is mandated through the NHS Standard Contract and is restricted to NHS Trusts and Foundation Trusts for the first two years of implementation.

The WDES is important to make a difference for disabled staff, because research shows that a motivated, included and valued workforce helps to deliver high quality patient care, increased patient satisfaction and improved patient safety. The implementation of the WDES will enable NHS trusts and foundation trusts to better understand the experiences of their Disabled staff. It will support positive change for existing employees and enable a more inclusive environment for Disabled people working in the NHS. It will also allow us to identify good practice and compare performance regionally and by type of trust.

At MTW we take the WDES data very seriously and have developed action plans from both WDES reports which can be read here:

• WDES 2023/25 action plan
• WDES 2022/23 action plan
• WDES 2022 results
• WDES 2021/22 action plan
• WDES 2021 results
• WDES 2020/21 action plan
• WDES 2020 results
• WDES 2019/20 action plan
• WDES 2019 results.

Disability Network

The Disability Staff Network has ‘ability’ in bold to highlight that we want to emphasise what our disabled staff can do, rather than focus on what they can’t, as well as the expert knowledge and lived experience being disabled gives these staff members when working in healthcare.

This is a safe space for staff with disabilities, long-term health conditions, carers and allies to get together to raise issues and concerns, work with the Staff Engagement and Equality Team to help shape organisational policy and to become a key stakeholder in addressing issues related to disabled staff, patients and service users at a corporate level. Holding meetings monthly, we get together to discuss ideas, events and issues experienced by its members.

Hear from one of our Disability Ambassadors about what it’s like to work at MTW: