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Advice to medical schools |
Understanding the framework
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The legal background
- Understand the definition of disability
- Understand disability discrimination
- Understand the anticipatory duty
- Understand reasonable adjustments
- Understand the Public Sector Equality Duty
Regulation
- Understand Good Medical Practice
- Understand Tomorrow’s Doctors and its requirements of medical students and medical schools
Models of disability
- Understand the impact of the medical and social models of disability
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| Preparing the ground |
Anticipatory duty
- Ensure that procedures, policies, practices and environments are not inherently discriminatory
Public Sector Equality Duty
- Involve disabled people
- Advance equality of opportunity including removing or minimising disadvantage, taking steps to meet the needs of people with disabilities and encouraging people with disabilities to participate in public life
- Foster good relations between disabled and non-disabled people
- Eliminate discrimination, victimisation and harassment and any other conduct that is prohibited
- Promote positive attitudes towards disabled people
- Take account of people’s disabilities even if this means treating them more favourably
Disability Equality Scheme (DES)
- Contribute to the university’s publication of a DES and to annual reviews
- Involve disabled people and their organisations in preparing, monitoring and evaluating the impact of the DES
- Continue to publish a DES until the introduction of the Public Sector Equality Duty in 2011
Competence standards
- Set out entry and assessment criteria for the course that are:
- not discriminatory
- relevant and genuine
- necessary
- linked to Tomorrow’s Doctors and Good Medical Practice
Staff training
- Review and update staff disability equality training programmes and/or develop new ones
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| Recruiting students for medical school |
Encouraging disabled people to apply
- Review and develop outreach activities
- Ensure course information has positive images of disabled people in medicine
- Provide information in accessible formats
- Provide sufficient information to enable a disabled person to select a school that suits them
Confidentiality and disclosure
- Encourage applicants to disclose impairments or health conditions
- Publish a confidentiality policy
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| Interviewing and selecting |
Reasonable adjustments to the interview
- Ask applicants in the letter of invitation to interview whether they have any requirements in relation to the interview place and process
- Plan reasonable adjustments to accommodate the requirements of a range of disabled applicants
Interview questions
- Conduct the interview in the same way for disabled and non-disabled applicants
- Avoid questions about an applicant’s impairment per se
Selection
- Consider all applications on the basis of published academic performance criteria and personal qualities
- Assess a disabled applicant as though reasonable adjustments required under the law had been made
- Be wary of not offering a place on the basis of a judgement about hypothetical barriers to achievement and employment specifically associated with an applicant’s disability
Justifying a decision, appeals and complaints
- Ensure fulfilment of legal duties on making a decision about offering a place and:
- be prepared to defend this in the event of a legal challenge
- keep a confidential record of the selection and interview processes
- detail the reasons for any decisions, using university procedures and forms
- Develop a process for dealing with complaints and appeals against a decision with copies made available, in a range of accessible formats, to applicants and students
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| Providing reasonable adjustments |
Identifying student requirements
- Ask all applicants offered a place to complete an equal opportunities monitoring form and a health assessment form provided by the occupational health service
- Inform the disability officer that a disabled student has been offered a place so they can start agreeing reasonable adjustments
- Gather in confidence information from disabled students during enrolment and induction about their requirements
- Provide students with an ongoing confidential opportunity to disclose their existing, new or more serious impairments or health conditions
Reasonable adjustments and support
- Review the arrangements for students and determine how to adapt the course and related services to meet the requirements of disabled students
- Design reasonable adjustments to ensure disabled students can study on an equal basis with non-disabled students
- Make reasonable adjustments on a case-by-case basis
- Bear in mind that whether an adjustment is reasonable depends on many factors
- Record decisions and reasons to make or withhold adjustments
The physical environment
- Plan continually for improvements in reasonable adjustments to the physical environment
- Conduct a risk and access audit of premises
- Draft an access improvement plan involving disabled staff and students
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| Providing induction and support |
Induction
- Make adjustments to ensure a disabled student is introduced in a clearly structured and supported way
- Use wherever possible the same health check process for all students
Support
- Develop effective support systems, including committed personal tutors with disability equality training
- Provide students with an ongoing confidential opportunity to disclose disabilities
- Provide effective careers guidance for every medical student, whether disabled or not, in appropriate ways and using a range of communication formats
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Advice to providers of postgraduate training |
| Understanding the framework |
The legal background
- Understand the definition of disability
- Understand discrimination as it applies to disability
- Understand that the anticipatory duty applies to the educational aspects of doctors in postgraduate training but not to the employment aspects
- Understand that meeting the Public Sector Equality Duty requirements involves a proactive approach
- Understand the requirement to make reasonable adjustments
Models of disability
- Understand the impact of the medical and social models of disability
Regulation
- Understand the roles of the GMC and PMETB in the regulation of:
- the Foundation Programme
- specialty including general practice training
The UK Foundation Programme Reference Guide
- Follow the guidance on Foundation doctors with disabilities
- Implement the flexible training provisions for Foundation doctors with disabilities
- Implement the transfer of information process to support medical students as they move from medical school to Foundation School
The ‘Gold Guide’ to specialty training
- Follow the ‘Gold Guide’ endorsement of anti-discriminatory practice in recruitment
- Implement the special eligibility of disabled trainees in relation to placements and flexible training
Risk management
- Provide supportive and enabling risk management for disabled trainees as employees of the NHS
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| Welcoming disabled doctors |
Induction
- Take reasonable steps to find out if an employee or applicant is disabled
- Address clinical duties and consider reasonable adjustments when a disabled trainee meets their educational supervisor
Health clearance and disclosure
- Provide health clearance for all new doctors
- Develop effective risk assessment and close supervision for all trainees
- Provide trainees with the opportunity to disclose any impairment or health condition in a reassuring climate and inform them of their rights and responsibilities
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| Providing reasonable adjustments |
Reasonable adjustments
- Make reasonable adjustments for disabled trainees and offer them appropriate facilities and support measures
- Agree adjustments and arrangements with trainees on a case-by-case basis
- Review examination and assessment arrangements in this light
- Bear in mind the fluctuating and sometimes invisible character of mental illness
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