Reasonable adjustments

Over the past year, the Trust has made substantial progress in enhancing the experience of disabled staff, recognising the vital importance of providing reasonable adjustments promptly. Significant improvement has been made to comply with legal obligations and efforts have extended beyond meeting statutory requirements to help cultivate a disability-confident culture. Work is ongoing to create an environment where disabled employees feel respected, psychologically safe, and equally empowered to access opportunities.

In November 2024, LSCFT launched a centralised service for managing reasonable adjustment enquiries and requests for disabled staff, in particular, queries about Access to Work which is the Department of Work and Pensions grant programme for disabled people accessing and in employment.

The new service is called the Reasonable Adjustments Central Hub (RACH). The service was primarily designed to support the process of Access to Work recommendations and grant claims. However, due to demand and to provide support for all reasonable adjustment needs, the service deals with non-Access to Work enquiries including occupational health, DSE and other reasonable adjustment recommendations identified through workplace assessments.

 The centralised system has removed the responsibility for, and the time spent on, purchasing, tracking and recording orders for equipment and support away from managers and other staff. It also means that the Trust will be able to claim the Access to Work grant and have a better overview of reasonable adjustments required by staff across the Trust.

The new service has been designed to create a centralised process which is clear and understandable, easy to use, streamlined and supportive. There have also been some important additional benefits during the development of the service.

  • Reduced wait for assessment of reasonable adjustment requirement: Currently there is a 24 week wait for Access to Work assessments during which time colleagues are not receiving adequate support. To remove this wait, the service will refer staff to another organisation which will undertake a workplace assessment within two to four weeks. These assessments can also be used in conjunction with Access to Work assessments when completed.
  • Active support for new staff requiring reasonable adjustments: Very often new staff do not disclose any reasonable adjustment needs because they feel it might affect their employment opportunities, they might not have a formal diagnosis, they have had negative experiences in the past or they simply forget to disclose. By working together, the RACH and Recruitment Team have developed a process to encourage disclosure for reasonable adjustments required. Prior to their start date, new staff receive substantial information regarding reasonable adjustments and the support that the Trust can offer.
  • Notification of reasonable adjustments identified during occupational health (OH) consultations: The RACH and OH have developed a new system which means that if any reasonable adjustments are identified during a consultation, an email notification is sent to the RACH email which can then be actioned. This provides pro-active support for staff, helps reduce wait times and encourages staff to disclose their disability status.

Will Butterworth, Diversity and Inclusion Manager (Workforce Reasonable Adjustments Specialist):

“I am really pleased with the positive support that the new RACH has received and I am very grateful for the help that various teams across the Trust have provided. We have learned a lot during the implementation of the new service, and despite some hurdles and a few stumbles, we continue to develop the service to meet the needs of disabled staff with their reasonable adjustment requirements.”

HR - employee relations

HR continues to work closely with diversity and inclusion colleagues to enable timely, expert advice and effective signposting, alongside occupational health input, to improve experiences for those needing extra support at work. Therefore, supporting colleagues through reasonable adjustments remains a key focus for the HR Business Partnering Team.

The new process whereby the RACH receives a notification of reasonable adjustments identified during occupational health consultations, is one example of working in partnership to pro-actively support disabled staff. 

The RACH manager frequently meets with HR colleagues to discuss any staffing issues relating to reasonable adjustments that need further exploration and clarification, support or escalation. There has been an increase in the information shared between the RACH, diversity and inclusion colleagues and HR, this helps increase understanding and awareness of issues and enables colleagues to be able to provide a well-informed timely response.

These open channels of communication have helped to create a greater understanding of relevant issues, this means staff receive better information and support, which in turn can reduce staff concerns, help with well-being and improve performance.

Health and wellbeing

We continue to offer a wide range of health and wellbeing support and interventions to our diverse workforce, creating a sense of belonging and inclusion is always at the forefront of all that we do. 

Our dedicated colleague website makes it quick and easy for colleagues to access what’s available, and provides links to staff benefits, services, and sources of information.

Our dedication to health and wellbeing in seen through our organisational development, diversity, and inclusion work, and is a golden thread in our leadership pathway. We understand that when mangers, leaders and teams look after their wellbeing they are more resilient and better able to cope with the high demands of their roles.

Looking forward, this collaborative working will be strengthened to support our networks and directorates to create positive and proactive cultures that support our people to be well and in work.

Women's health

We continue to acknowledge that of our substantive workforce, 78% identify as female and 29% are between the ages of 46 and 50, therefore it is essential that from a health and wellbeing perspective we support all aspects of women’s health in the workplace.

Specific work on menopause includes our quarterly Big Online Menopause Forum, online learning, menopause champions training and new for 2025 is a programme of GP led advisory sessions. Our ethos is to bring together staff from a variety of characteristics/backgrounds to share stories, experiences, listen, learn, and connect with others.

Additionally, in collaboration with our Women’s Network a Trust wide Women’s Health Strategy is being considered. A survey has been undertaken which focused on three priority areas: menopause, gynaecological/menstrual health and mental wellbeing, the results will inform next steps. 

International recruits

As part of our international recruit welcome programme the Health and Wellbeing Team deliver a wellbeing session, actively engaging with colleagues from different countries and backgrounds to encourage them to consider how to self-care as well as making them aware of how the Trust can support them.

Carers Forum

To ensure the voices of carers who work for us are heard we have established a staff Carers Forum, bringing colleagues together to share experiences and to provide peer support to each other with the ethos of ‘We care because YOU care’.

We encourage our workforce to be more carer aware as many staff act as carers without even thinking about the role they perform and there is no such thing as a typical carer whatever their background and or characteristics.