Disability History Month: Disability networks and support for HCPC-registered professionals

We recently published a list of profession-specific disability networks and initiatives for the professions that the HCPC regulates.

Disabled professionals are a key part of the UK’s healthcare workforce, as well as being a group (in fact, many groups) with their own unique needs.

In the UK, many professional bodies and membership organisations represent those who practise in the various health and care professions that make up the workforce. As such, many provide dedicated initiatives or groups that support disabled practitioners within that profession, but there are also independent networks and initiatives supporting disabled practitioners, which can be transformative.

Many people who face marginalisation can feel isolated and experience social stigma. Disability networks and initiatives can provide invaluable emotional support: a shoulder to cry on, encouragement for navigating life, or just the knowledge you’re not alone.

But for registrants, it’s not just personal lives that these networks can impact. It’s:

• Individual careers
  Disability networks are invaluable sources of information and advice, as members will probably have experience of overlapping challenges and situations. They can make recommendations for how to navigate them - and provide encouragement around doing so. Successfully requesting a physical adjustment in a laboratory setting or practise setting could make the difference between ‘getting by’ and thriving at work. Meanwhile, being in touch with potential role models and mentors can be affirming and inspirational.
  
  
• The future of professions
  Disability networks can increase the representation of disabled registrants, as many voices speaking together will be louder than one alone. This means they can carry increased weight in feedback exercises and stakeholder consultations, which can impact decisions made about their professions at a high level.
  
  
• The healthcare workforce as a whole
  By supporting individuals and improving work environments, disability networks widen space in the workforce for disabled practitioners. They stabilise disabled practitioners’ roles, making them more sustainable for longer. It also increases the diversity of teams, a factor which has been shown to contribute to better patient and service user outcomes.

The list of the current disability networks and initiatives for the 15 professions we regulate is available on our health and disability support page. I hope you find it helpful, and I encourage you to share it with someone who needs it.

If there is any information that we haven’t yet represented, please feel free to contact us.

Further information