Comment EDITOR’S COMMENTwith LOUISE FRAMPTON THE CLINICAL SERVICES JOURNAL Editor


Louise Frampton louiseframpton@stepcomms.com


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‘Culture of ableism’ creating barriers in the NHS


Recently, in this column, I reported on how the NHS is failing to ensure adequate access and accommodations for neurodiverse users of NHS services, exacerbating health inequalities. Now, a BMA report has found that inadequate workplace support is threatening to force disabled and neurodivergent doctors out of the NHS, highlighting ‘a culture of ableism’. The interim findings of a survey of doctors and medical students with disabilities, long-


term health conditions or who are neurodivergent has exposed the extent to which many feel marginalised and unsupported, the association has warned. The study, which saw 801 doctors and students from across the UK participate, found that more than half of respondents (53 per cent) said that a lack of support had made them consider leaving the medical profession during the past two years. The survey also found that 42 per cent of respondents say they felt that their place of work or study was not disability and neurodiversity inclusive. One resident doctor told the survey of how isolated and exhausted they felt owing to the lack


of support they received in their place of work. They said: “It is exhausting having to fight through barriers that able-bodied or non-disabled colleagues don’t have to, all the time. I always feel on the back foot having to overcome disadvantage of disability in training, which makes it so hard to achieve the necessary progression in training. It is lonely and exhausting and so wrong to have to consider leaving training because of the burden created by fighting stereotypes, bias and discrimination when I know I am completely capable of doing my job well if I had appropriate support.”


With the BMA set to publish its full report on the survey later this year, the association is calling on medical schools and employers to reflect on its initial findings and to engage with the concerns of disabled and neurodivergent doctors and students. Under the 2010 Equality Act, employers have a statutory duty to provide reasonable adjustments to the working environment and to policies and processes in the workplace which might otherwise disadvantage disabled staff. Despite this, 73 per cent of doctors and students responding to the survey said they had not received all their required adjustments with 43 per cent saying they had been forced to pay for reasonable adjustments out of their own funds.


Commenting on the survey’s findings, BMA representative body chair, Amit Kochhar, said the partial findings from the survey made for worrying and disappointing reading. He said: “Disabled doctors and medical students are present at every level of the profession, contributing as valued and vital members of the medical workforce, [yet] a lack of disability and neurodiversity awareness, coupled with discrimination and stigma, can significantly impact disabled doctors’ lives and careers. “Providing appropriate support is not only the right thing to do – it’s essential. Worryingly, the


survey found that just 34 per cent of respondents who disclosed their disability to their place of work or study experienced improved support.” These latest findings come on the back of a series of Freedom of Information requests submitted last year by the BMA, which showed that many NHS Trusts and health boards were failing to meet their statutory duties on support and reasonable adjustments. Clearly, there is a need for training, education and culture change, to tackle the barriers to inclusion. However, it appears that the issue runs deep; 34 per cent of survey participants said they had experienced bullying or harassment as a result of their disability or neurodivergence, with 56 per cent stating that ableism was a greater issue in medicine than in wider society. Ultimately, how can the NHS strive to provide inclusive care for all, when it fails to care for and


include many of its own staff? This is completely unacceptable and must change. You can read the interim findings at: https://tinyurl.com/4djv6hyp


louiseframpton@stepcomms.com Get in touch and give us your views, email me:


October 2025 I www.clinicalservicesjournal.com 5


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