Dear all,

I am writing to provide an important update on our campaign.

This week, I received an anonymous tip-off from inside an NHS Trust confirming that their Sickness Policy is being rewritten in a way that places disabled staff at a significant disadvantage. The changes described would introduce harsher triggers and reduced protections for disabled colleagues, despite the Equality Act (2010) requiring organisations to treat disability-related absences differently and lawfully.

Several of these proposed amendments would directly contravene the Equality Act (2010).

Disturbingly, this is not an isolated incident. These behaviours have become so widespread across NHS organisations that many Trusts no longer fear being taken to task for discriminatory policy changes. They act with confidence that there will be no scrutiny and no consequences.

This is precisely why our campaign for an NHS Workforce Ombudsman is so urgent.

An Ombudsman would provide:

• Independent oversight of discriminatory workforce policies  

• A safe, protected route for staff to report malpractice without fear  

• Binding investigations that compel organisations to explain and justify their actions  

• Formal recommendations and enforcement** when Trusts breach equality law  

• A consistent national standard** so that staff protections no longer depend on geography or luck  

• Accountability for leaders who repeatedly ignore the legal rights of disabled, racialised, LGBTQIA+, and other marginalised staff  

Right now, wrongdoing is thriving precisely because no such mechanism exists. Trusts can (not so) quietly rewrite policies that disadvantage disabled people, confident that the worst that will happen is a complaint being lost in a local HR system.

Let me be absolutely clear: this will not stand. We cannot stand idly whilst disability discrimination is slyly written into policy. It is unacceptable, unlawful, and a fundamental abuse of power. The NHS cannot improve outcomes or culture while it silently undermines the very staff it claims to value.

Please share our petition widely. Write to your local MP to flag this chasm in accountability and how it must be plugged, immediately.

Our campaign will continue to expose these practices and push for the independent oversight that the NHS workforce urgently needs. Thank you for your continued support and solidarity as we fight for an NHS where fairness is not optional, and accountability is real.

Kind regards,  

Andrea