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The 2005 amendment to the Disability Discrimination Act means that from December 2006 all public bodies have a duty to promote disability equality. The legislation expects public bodies to take steps to remove barriers disabled people face when accessing employment or services. This Single Equality Scheme (SES) and action plan set out how Ashford and St Peters Hospitals NHS Trust intends to fulfil its duty to promote disability equality.
The strategic aim of our SES is to create a culture based on accurate knowledge and positive attitudes to increase understanding, and to address the barriers, which affect the experiences of disabled people.
Fundamental to the development of the scheme will be the involvement of disabled groups from within the local community together with patients, carers and staff.
In the development of the scheme account has been taken of the Social Model of Disability and in particular that Disability Awareness in Action, an international disability and human rights group, provides a definition of disability which is ‘the social consequences of having an impairment’.
The Statutory Code of Practice 2005 suggests that the Social Model of Disability provides a basis for the successful implementation of the duty to promote disability equality as follows:
“At present disabled people do not have the same opportunities or choices as non-disabled people. Nor do they enjoy equal respect or full inclusion in society on an equal basis. The poverty, disadvantage and social exclusion experienced by many disabled people is not the inevitable result of their impairments or medical conditions, but rather stems from attitudinal and environmental barriers. “ The Duty to Promote Disability Equality, Statutory Code of Practice, DRC 2005
The principles of involvement and the identification of attitudinal and environmental barriers and their resolution should therefore underpin our approach to promoting disability equality.
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Disability