Meet Michelle Clarkson, Disability Lead and Staff Disability Network Chairperson, for Disability Awareness Day
Hi, I'm Michelle Clarkson, the Trust's Disability Lead and Staff Disability Network Chairperson. My role is to support staff and their managers regarding disability and long-term health conditions along with providing information and advice, and identifying and promoting best practices across the Trust. I am also involved in supporting staff who may need workplace adjustments for disability. This can be as simple as supporting an individual to contact Access to Work for a workplace assessment, to helping identify and what may be needed to enable a disabled staff member to access a specific work area. Once identified, I also stay involved to help ensure that things are done as expediently as possible.
There are many facets to my role and so I thought it would be good to focus on one and maybe chat about the others at a later date.
Currently here at the Trust we have two Staff Disability Network meetings a month. The meetings are facilitated through Microsoft Teams and are open to all staff with a disability, long term health condition or have an interest in supporting our disabled colleagues.
Both of these meetings are very different, with one being a set agenda meeting which give us the opportunity to invite guests to talk, or discuss all things GMMH such as policy changes and, most recently, disabled carparking, along with all things relevant to the group. The second meeting runs as an online drop in session, giving staff and managers the opportunity to come and ask a specific question and leave if they wish, or if they have the time stay and chat with others, which I find can be really beneficial to the group as many of our network attendees have lived experience of disability in the workplace and can provide invaluable input. Although they are very different, both meetings are quite informal and no questions are considered to be silly.
Myself and other disabled members of the network are sometimes asked to attend managers/staff meetings in order to share our lived experiences as disabled staff working for GMMH. This gives us the opportunity to promote the Network and the support available for our staff. We have also found it to be a great way of opening up discussions and hopefully leading to a better understanding of the barriers disabled people can find themselves facing at work. Along with attending these meetings we can also be seen at the Trust's inductions, where we talk about our work and encourage new employees to join us. Attending the induction also gives us the opportunity to promote what the network is currently involved in. For example, this could be working with HR to help develop a new staff sickness/wellness document, or promoting our newsletter which is intended to inform people about disability and signposts to help available.
Our Disability Network Hub is now live on our website
You can visit the Hub today for more information about the Network and our aims: /www.gmmh.nhs.uk/disability-network.
If you would like more information about the Disability Network, would like to sign up to our newsletter, or would be interested in joining the Network then please contact disabilitystaffnetwork@gmmh.nhs.uk.
Disability Awareness Day 2020 is taking place on Sunday 25th October.
In honour of the day, there will be an online virtual event, one that will be fully interactive and based on the Disability Awareness Day live events loved by over 28,000 visitors who usually attend Walton Hall and Gardens each year.
The online event will go ahead from 10am this Sunday, 25 October, via a dedicated website http://www.dadvirtual.org.uk. To attend, just click on the link where you will have the opportunity to speak to over 200 exhibitors and watch performances from some of the top disabled artists.
The following short video explains more: https://vimeo.com/444816483.
Next month is Disability History Month 2020 (18 November to 18 December)
During this month, we will share more information with you about the Disability Network, the support available to our members living with disabilities or long-term health conditions, and how you can get involved. Watch this space!
Whilst you are here I would also like to encourage you to complete the staff survey.
We know everyone's busy and it can be hard to find the time but the Staff Disability Network wouldn't exist if it wasn't for people identifying need in the staff survey. The information you provide regarding staff experience is what prompts real change, of which we are proof.
