Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure neuro-diverse people are treated fairly and equally in the NHS recruitment process.

Under the Equality Act 2010 it is unlawful for employers to discriminate against people because of a disability. Neuro-diverse people should receive fair and equal treatment as part of the National Health Service recruitment process, which includes making workplace adjustments.

The 2020 NHS People Plan includes commitments to increase the representation of colleagues with a disability and states that employers must overhaul recruitment practices by creating accountability, agreeing diversity targets and addressing bias. Senior leaders must be accountable for developing and delivering urgent plans to eliminate inequality in their organisations. The NHS Workforce Disability Equality Standard set out metrics to enable organisations to understand the experiences of disabled staff. This will ensure a more inclusive environment for disabled people seeking employment in the NHS. Disability and Wellbeing Networks in the NHS support the recruitment of people with disabilities and NHS Employers has created a toolkit to assist disabled individuals through the recruitment process.