Dr Mohit Venkataram, sponsor of the ELFT Ability Staff Network, opened the conference on 22 February setting the context of a day of speakers and discussion focused on Disability and Social Justice. He shared how his own illness and the resulting after-effects of deafness and balance issues had re-shaped his work life and made him aware of how important workplace modifications and changes in colleagues behaviour (such as sitting on his hearing side) were. The conference featured speakers leading the way in challenging obstacles facing people with a disability and hosted workshops focusing on finance, influence and practical steps.
Leadership and Thank You
Chair Eileen Taylor shared her own experience of disability in her close family; and paid tribute to Mohit for his leadership and for championing the needs of people with a disability at executive level. She applauded the work of the ELFT Ability Network in bringing into focus the changes needed in the Trust to ensure that ELFT can recruit the best people and attract talent.
ELFT Vision for a Fulfilling Work Life
Interim Chief Executive Lorraine Sunduza set out her vision for building an organisation where everyone is able to work to their optimum and have a fulfilling work life. She noted how much representation matters and that if people who use our services see disabled staff enabled to work here, it sent a strong message about inclusivity. She said that Claire McKenna who will be taking over from Mohit as Executive Sponsor in the ELFT Ability Network was equally passionate about equity so the network would be in good hands.
Workplace Adjustments
Our first keynote speaker, Dr Nasser Siabi OBE from Microlink plc, spoke about why it is important that organisations assess the disability needs of their staff and action their equipment and other adjustment needs that arise from it. He said it came down to basics and was cheaper to support someone at an early stage to be able function at their best in the workplace to contribute to the work of the Trust. Not enabling them to do so was a no-brainer. Later costs and even potential legal action would be far more costly than buying in equipment or making other adjustments in the first place.
In response to a question the network highlighted that workplace adjustments often don’t work smoothly at ELFT, it was acknowledged that the presentation was a first step in opening a conversation about how ELFT can improve in this.
Workshops
The Conference offered three break-out sessions on Access to Work with Shannon O'Neill, on navigating the benefits system with Jodi and Nelissa from the Newham Benefits team who have been working with the Trust previously on the Healthier Wealthier Families pilot programme; and we also welcomed Nova, Jude and Kamila from the Community Health Bedfordshire Working Together Group who talked about the challenges they and their members face daily in terms of accessing ELFT and People Participation activities and about plans underway to improve the way we include disabled service users.
Pedal Bins!
Keynote speaker, Dr Amy Kavanagh (@BlondeHistorian), gave a riveting presentation about the everyday obstacles she has faced as someone registered blind. She started her presentation with a photograph of a pedal bin in a disabled toilet – a type of bin that few people with a disability would in fact be able to operate. It said it all about the lack of thought and insight that exists into the needs of the people most likely to use a disabled toilet.
Legal Backing
Amy talked about the many models of disability but said it came down to education and to organisational culture which requires staff to be open, not to judge or presume, and to ask what is needed, not impose. Not just because this is the right thing to do but because it is enshrined in law in the UN Convention of Rights of Persons with a Disabilities with its by-line: Nothing About Us Without Us. She said that all people simply wanted to be treated like a person cared for.
Maternity Support
Amy shared the highs and lows of her experience when pregnant with her son. This included her assistance dog being banned* from attending appointments with her, and sometimes her partner stopped from joining her. As she said to staff, “It’s got to be one of them!” However, she was highly supported in her choices about her labour and able to change her mind as labour progressed and was listened to.
She had to have a series of subcutaneous injection partway through her pregnancy and was told her partner would have to learn to do this. But this was not practical as they worked full time. However, a nurse spent 20 minutes giving her a tactile training session and demonstration allowing her to feel the syringe, sheath and unsheath the needle, and feel the pressure of the plunger – which enabled her to administer the injection independently like anyone else. As Amy said, “That 20 minutes of nurse time saved the NHS so much money if they had had to supply a service for me to have this.”
Accommodating a Christmas Tree
Amy shared the story of a friend who uses a power wheelchair who could not manoeuvre it in a hospital waiting room due to the fixed-to-the-floor seating. Yet, at Christmas, seating had been removed to accommodate a Christmas tree! She said if they could change things for a tree, they should certainly do the same for a person with extra needs.
We Asked a Few Thousand People …
Shannon O’Neill used the Family Fortunes gameshow format to talk through feedback from staff with a disability from the 2022 Staff Survey.** Except instead of ‘asking a 100 people’, the survey had asked a couple of thousand people! The news wasn’t good. Survey findings show that staff with a disability have a difficult time in the Trust, meeting obstacles to working and have generally a poorer experience of working for ELFT than their non-disabled colleagues. As someone pointed out - how long should it take to get a left-handed mouse for your PC or to get workplace adjustments to do your job? People in the room voiced their concerns that this was not an acceptable state of affairs and questioned why the Trust was in this position. It stimulated a challenging discussion in the plenary panel at the end of the day but secured two important undertakings.
What Next - Important Undertakings
The first undertaking was from Chief People Office Tanya Carter who said that if staff requesting workplace adjustments didn’t have these by the end of 12 weeks, that she wanted to know about this and for the request to be escalated to her personally.
The second undertaking was from Chief Operating Officer, Edwin Ndlovu, who undertook to fully address the results shared which he agreed were unacceptable and disappointing. He said “If 6000+ ELFT staff regarded themselves as disability allies and joined in the effort for disabled colleagues to get what they need, that would be a huge movement of power and influence.”
In tackling obstacles, he noted that the Trust had two important treasures – its service users and quality improvement. He said, “We know how to get things done. We know how to improve things. We need to use that knowledge and insight to move things forward.”
Do Your Research!
Amy appealed to trusts and managers not to tackle issues by pulling together focus groups of disabled staff, expecting them fix problems. She said, “It’s not their job to teach us. It’s not fair and inappropriate to use their experience and trauma for free or in exchange for a cup of tea and a biscuit. Trusts need to do the work. There is plenty of information out there, people blogging, organisations sharing their disability adjustments journeys and other intel.”
We Should all be Disability Allies
In summing up, Mohit appealed to all staff to step up to be allies to colleagues with a disability and join them in tackling obstacles. He said, “If we can’t support disabled colleagues, how can we support service users. If everyone takes one step to improve the experience of disabled colleagues that is a lot of steps forward!”
Mohit’s stewardship of the ELFT Ability Network and his role in keeping issues high on the agenda of the Trust board were once again acknowledged at the conclusion of the event.
Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to these important discussions.
* It is illegal to ban assistance dogs from accompanying their owners
** The 2023 results are due to be published on 7 March
Presentations:
- Planning for workplace adjustments - Dr Nasser Siabi OBE
- ELFT Ability - Our Impact
- Benefits Workshop - Jodi Wallace and Nelissa Payne
- People Participation and Accessibility - Nova Davies, Jude Hirstwood and Kamila Naseova
- What the NHS Staff Survey is telling us - Shannon O'Neill