Authored by Jess Dicken.

While health inequalities feature in a lot of the research our centre does, we also have an active group of staff considering internal equality and justice issues.

Back in 2024 our group decided to place a major focus on the lived experience of disabled staff and set about an internal enquiry. It was important that the project be led by someone with experience of disability, which is when I was elected to lead the work.

What we found

We found that working life was being made harder for disabled staff due to overly complex systems, problematic policies, and a culture which often relies on overworking and precarious contracts.

Participants made lots of practical suggestions on what could change and advocated for disabled staff to be much more involved in designing better ways of working.

I know first-hand that disabled people are too often positioned as the problem that needs to change. Our work highlighted that it is often external factors that disable us and create barriers.

Turning findings into action

Crucially, our findings weren’t just published to sit and gather dust on a shelf.

As project lead, I took the report – and the lived experiences behind it – directly into key decision-making meetings. In response, the university used our report to drive practical changes, setting up ‘task and finish’ groups to redesign existing services and policies and build new ones.

That momentum translated into several concrete outcomes. First, rewriting our sick leave policy to better reflect the realities of disability-related illness, and introducing a dedicated disability leave policy so staff can manage medical appointments without using up their holiday allowance.

On the operational side, HR updated our reporting system with a small but crucial tweak: a distinct option to differentiate general illness from disability-related sickness.

Finally, we supported the launch of the Tailored Adjustment Plan. This is a portable ‘passport’ that allows staff to easily share their support needs with managers and colleagues, without having to explain their situation every time they or their team changes.

What we learned along the way

Looking back, these tangible results owed a lot to how we framed the project from the beginning.

Before launching, we identified key internal stakeholders and briefed them on where our work aligned with their own strategies. This helped secure their backing before we asked for policy changes.

We also made a conscious choice to focus most on solutions rather than just listing problems. When gathering lived experiences, we explicitly asked colleagues, “What needs to change?” and “What’s missing?” We gave people space to imagine ideal scenarios, which handed decision-makers actionable ideas.

Of course, we had to accept that structural and cultural change takes time. While we set our ambitions high, we recognise these updates are starting points that we can continue to build on.

Above all, we will keep pushing to ensure lived experience is included in how the university makes decisions that directly impact staff across a spectrum of abilities.