Joint ambition from the Disabled Students Commission and Health Education England published today

Health Education England (HEE) has worked with the Disabled Students’ Commission (DSC) to produce a short joint statement and ambition, shaped by the lived experiences of disabled learners, trainees, and colleagues within the NHS. This statement reflects our joint ambition to help develop and promote support for health learners successfully transition into employment in the National Health Service (NHS) and wider health and social care economy.

Professor Liz Hughes MBE,  Medical Director (Undergraduate Education), Health Education England, said:

“We know that the education experience, including how all our healthcare learners are treated, will have a direct impact on how inclusive and equitable patient care is now and in the future. This is why both the DSC; HEE and our partners are passionate about ensuring we have the highest quality learning environments.

We urge you reflect on this short guidance and to consider the ambition statement. We want people to join us over 2023 in not just thinking about the challenges, but also looking at ways we can work in partnership to respond to delivering a new ambition that is fair, equitable and truly inclusive”

Geoff Layer, Chair of the Disabled Student’s Commission said:

“We are committed to helping to build a future workforce that is reflective of our society and is genuinely inclusive and values led. That does mean pro-actively seeking to ensure that there is no sense of stigma associated with disability. Health learners must be able to declare they are disabled, both in education, as well as across training and learning environments and when they move into the NHS or health and social care workforce.”

Full guidance and statement can be found here.