Improving GP services for people with
disabilities
GPs have an obligation to eliminate discrimination and
promote equality of opportunity for people with disabilities. RCGP
Scotland is therefore committed to helping GPs improve the
services they provide for all their patients, particularly those
with disabilities.
Disability Awareness Event
RCGP Scotland, in partnership with Fair for All –
Disability (a strategic partnership between the Scottish
Executive and the Disability Rights Commission), held a Disability
Awareness Event in Stirling on 28 February 2006.
The event was organised in preparation for the
Disability Equality Duty, a public sector focused set of
regulatory requirements which became active in March 2006 as part
of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005. This event was
designed to address the issues brought to the fore by the launch of
this Duty.
With a particular focus on patient care, the event offered an
opportunity for GPs and practice staff to raise their understanding
of the concerns that patients with disabilities face, and
subsequently set themselves on the path to providing an improved
service in line with the new Duty. The event was very
positively received with contributions from the major voices
involved in disability awareness contributing to the success of the
event.
Via an evaluation form distributed on the day, a large number of
respondents offered positive comments on the high quality of
information outlaid at the event, highlighting the practical
aspects in particular. Attendees particularly enjoyed the
practical workshops and presentations and felt that their awareness
of the issues has been raised considerably as a result of attending
the event, taking away with them many practical ideas on how to
improve the service they offer to patients.
We will also continue to roll-out awareness raising sessions,
working closely with the Fair for All – Disability team
and GP practices across Scotland. The first of these will be
an event held in Aberdeen in autumn/winter 2006 aimed at GPs and
practice staff in the area.
You can view the programme, the presentations and the profile of
speakers Disability Awareness Event
Information.
Improving access
"Improving access for a disabled patient is not just
about access to the building – it is about developing inclusive
attitudes and practices that permeate every aspect of services so
that people have their diverse needs recognised."
This principle underpins all aspects of the advice which was
outlaid at the event, and some general practical points for
practices to remember are summarised as follows:
Main areas of service for surgeries to
consider:
- Staff Training
- Provision of appropriate
information
- Refurbishment schedules
Practice Staff are urged to consider the
following questions:
- How is the patient being spoken
to/treated?
- Has any attempt been made to understand
the needs and issues of concern to the patient?
- Does the environment put the patient at
ease to ask the questions they would really like to
ask?
GP Practices should be striving to:
- Involve disabled people in the planning of
services
- Conducting demographic profiling for those
with a disability
- Impact Assessing on all policy and
practice
- Preparing a Disability Equality
Scheme
- Reporting openly on changes to
practice
3 Things you can do today
Fair for All Disability highlighted 3 things you can do
today to improve your service:
- Work with your local NHS Board to produce
a Disability Equality Scheme
- Consider how well your organisation
performs by auditing your practice
- Involve disabled people in the planning
and delivery of all your services
Raising Awareness
In order to further raise awareness of this issue, RCGP Scotland
will continue to roll-out awareness raising sessions, working
closely with the Fair for All – Disability team and
practices across Scotland. The first of these will be an
event held in Aberdeen in the autumn/winter of 2006 aimed at GPs
and practice staff in the area.