NHS EnglandTools and Guidance

Easy read

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These tools and guidance are in place to support NHS organisations to increase the number of people with learning disabilities employed within NHS organisations.

They look at the practical steps to employ people with a learning disability.

The same ideas can also be used for people with other disabilities. This is a part of the NHS promise to make sure lots of different kinds of people are included in the workplace.

A learning disability can affect the way a person understands information and how they talk with others.

Foreword:

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Learning disabilities affect people in different ways. Some people will need more support than others.

Helping people with learning disabilities get work in the NHS is the right thing to do for people with learning disabilities and the right thing to do for the NHS.

If we do it well, supporting people with learning disabilities to get jobs is a step towards a more accessible and supportive workplace.

It won’t be easy or quick to do this. Organisations need to create a culture where people with learning disabilities feel comfortable and safe.

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The aim of these tools and guidance is to help people be more aware, show good examples, and break down some of the barriers that both employers and possible employees may have.

This guidance helps you start thinking of ways of working that help welcome people with learning disabilities.

The tools and guidance have five building blocks. These will take an employer or manager through the steps of looking for and employing someone with a learning disability.

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This building block helps NHS managers and HR directors to see that:

• hiring people with learning disabilities is the right thing to do;

• doing this will help business.

The building block also explains that managers can get support from working with external organisations and from peer learning.

Getting Started:

• Employing people with learning disabilities can help your organisation:

o save money: people stay in jobs longer;

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o build happier teams by making the workplace more accessible and inclusive.

o find new, untapped resources;

o more confidence;

• It also benefits the individual through:

o better health;

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o a sense of belonging and routine.

There is a lot of support that employers can use. A good way to be successful is to work together with others locally and in your region.

Places for support:

• The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - Access to Work can pay for practical support and Two Ticks is a symbol that shows employers agree to take action on five commitments;

• Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise organisations (VCSEs) – organisations who have skills and provide services to support employment of people with learning disabilities and can give support to employers;

Support from others

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• Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) – help encourage economic growth in local areas;

• Local authorities – provide adult social services and have links with the local population, including those with learning disabilities.

Join our LinkedIn Group to help make partnerships in your area [group search: NHS Learning Disability Employment]

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Purpose: this building block explains to employers about the Equality Act 2010 and how they have to provide reasonable adjustments. This is very important for making adjustments for disabled people.

The Equality Act 2010 says that all employers have to make reasonable adjustments for disabled staff, including those with learning disabilities.

This could be through:

• changing the way things are done (e.g. face to face training rather than online);

Being an Accessible Employer:

• changes to get over barriers to the physical workplace (e.g. reduced working hours);

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• having more or different equipment (e.g. easy read documents).

Communicating in an accessible way is really important. Organisations should support staff to communicate in a way that includes everyone. Some good ideas include:

• using plain English;

• avoiding jargon, using just the first letters of words (acronyms) and figures of speech;

• using clear and short sentences.

Communicating

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Equality and diversity training in the NHS already exists, but extra training focused on learning disability to encourage culture change is useful.

Think about including people with learning disabilities in training sessions to give staff a user led viewpoint.

Myth - People with learning disabilities are different.

Reality - Everyone is different.

Training

Some myths:

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Myth - Communicating with someone with a learning disability is hard.

Reality - Communicating in a way where the other person understands is important for everyone.

Myth - This guidance is only of use to people with learning disabilities.

Reality- Organisations that ‘get it right’ for people with a learning disability will become better at supporting a wider range of disabilities.

Myth - People with learning disabilities will need a lot of support to do their job.

Reality - All employees need some creative and individual support to do their jobs.

Support is really important to make a good workplace which includes and accepts people. It is everyone’s job across the organisation; and all departments. Employees should work together to make the NHS an inclusive and safe place to come to work.

Organisations can help create a supportive workplace by:

• helping staff to meet together in a group;

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Creating a supportive

Environment

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• having learning disability champions;

• providing additional individual support to both the employee and staff.

Purpose: this building block helps employers think of the steps needed to employ someone with a learning disability.

Finding Real Jobs

1. Find teams

Start with the most interested departments.

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2. Real Jobs

All jobs should be real and needed, and be valued by managers and colleagues.

3. Development

Each job should have the possibility for getting better and adding skills.

4. Ways in

All types of jobs can be thought about since everyone has different skills and experiences. People with learning disabilities bring their own expertise, knowledge and experiences to roles.

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Advertising and Finding employees

Purpose: This building block brings employers through the process of:

• advertising in a way to reach the learning disability population; and

• changing interviews to be accessible, fair and best show the applicant’s skills;

• how to apply NHS specific policies to hiring someone with a learning disability.

Advertising only on NHS jobs may not be enough to reach everyone who might be able to do the job.

Building a local network to reach the widest range of people will be very important. This can include getting help from Adult Social Services departments, VCSEs and Jobcentre Plus.

Application forms should be available in an accessible form (such as easy read).

You will need to make sure that you are giving applicants the best chance to show their skills. Some examples of good ways of working are:

• allowing for longer interviews;

• letting the person try out some parts of the job;

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• including people with learning disabilities on the panel; and

• giving unsuccessful candidates the chance to develop their skills through job trials.

Once someone with a learning disability has been given the job, the same HR processes have to happen. References are good to help build up a picture about the person. These should be from employers from the past, volunteering activities, and/or training.

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Once they have been offered the job the employee with learning disabilities will have to sign an employment contract. Although the employment contract itself cannot be changed to easy read, a summary sheet in easy read can be given with the full contract.

This summary sheet will explain some of the most important things, such as pay, hours worked, annual leave, sick days and the notice period.

Like all other employees, people with learning disabilities will need an induction to the organisation and their new role. This induction process should be accessible and time taken to make sure that the new role is understood.

As changes are made in the organisation it is important to monitor and learn lessons from the changes made.

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Employment

This easy read document was produced by CHANGEwww.changepeople.org