Nottingham hospitals has achieved Disability Confident Leader status
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) is delighted to have achieved the Disability Confident Leader award. This is the highest level of accreditation in the government led Disability Confident Scheme.
The scheme encourages employers to recruit, retain and develop people with workplace disabilities and health conditions. NUH achieving the level 3 leader status demonstrates our strong commitment to creating accessibility, inclusion, and actively promoting the employment of disabled people.
Giles Matsell, Head of Equality and Diversity, said: “This is a fantastic achievement that has taken over 10 months of hard work. I am extremely proud of this recognition and to now be working for a recognised disability confident leader organisation.
“As a disability confident leader, NUH is now acting as a champion for disability confidence within our local community, encouraging and supporting other organisations to also become disability confident. This is showing the disabled community that NUH is committed and leading the way.”
The scheme was developed by employers and disabled people’s representatives almost eight years ago.
As part of the process to achieving leader status, NUH had to undertake a self-assessment, which was independently validated. Policies, supplier contracts, and the whole employment cycle was reviewed as part of the process.
Linda Ebeh, Project Support Officer with the Inclusion team, played a key part in collating all the necessary information needed to achieve this status.
“Being able to demonstrate NUH is a leader in disability confidence is an amazing achievement. It has been a real team effort to achieve this award and is something I am proud of.”
Tim Guyler, Director of Strategy and Integration and executive sponsor of the Staffability Network, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for NUH. Having inclusive recruitment and development is a key part of our People First Strategy, as it is how we are going to retain staff and become the employer of choice.”
Stephanie Byrne, Divisional PA for Surgery and Chair of the Staffability Staff Network, said: “As the Chair of Staffability, I’m incredibly proud to say that NUH has achieved this award, and has committed to championing disability advocacy.
“To me, being ‘disability confident’ means thinking about ways can improve as a Trust when supporting all types of disabilities. Being a Disability Confident Leader also means having thought-provoking and difficult conversations about getting disabled people into work, helping people retain these positions whilst excelling in these careers. This, for me, starts with education and resources, and enabling positive change to happen within our teams.
“As a disabled member of staff, I feel deep gratitude towards this commitment from NUH, and look to support this with action in my position as network chair.”