Solving Healthcare Workforce Shortages Through Disability-Inclusive Recruitment

The Healthcare Staffing Crisis

Healthcare faces a global workforce crisis:

• WHO estimates a projected shortfall of 11 million health workers by 2030, mostly in low- and lower-middle income countries
• UK NHS: The NHS in England continues to report substantial vacancies across nursing, medical and support roles
• US: The AAMC projects a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036

Meanwhile, disabled people are significantly underrepresented in the healthcare workforce. The WHO estimates that 1.3 billion people — 16% of the world's population — experience significant disability. This represents an enormous untapped talent pool.

The Case for Disability-Inclusive Healthcare Recruitment

Retention Advantage

Accommodations are a retention tool, and most are inexpensive:

• Job Accommodation Network (JAN) survey data (2019–2024): 61% of employers said the accommodations they made cost nothing; 33% reported a one-time expense with a median cost of $300
• In the same survey, increased employee retention (85%) was the benefit employers mentioned most often after making an accommodation

Patient Care Benefits

Disabled healthcare workers can strengthen patient care:

• Shared experience: Disabled clinicians can bring an understanding of what it is like to navigate health systems as a patient
• Innovation: Lived experience of disability can drive creative solutions to access barriers
• Communication: Many disabled clinicians have had to advocate for themselves, which can translate into empathetic communication with patients

Diversity of Perspective

Teams with a range of lived experience (including disability) bring more perspectives to clinical problem-solving, patient communication and service design.

Successful Programmes

DFN Project SEARCH in the NHS

• Supported internship programme for young people with a learning disability and/or who are autistic
• Interns spend most of their time based at the employer, in NHS roles such as catering, portering, domestic services and administration
• DFN Project SEARCH reports that, on average, around 60% of its interns secure permanent paid employment
• NHS Employers reports that over 120 interns secured employment through NHS England's partnership with DFN Project SEARCH over a two-year period, and that over a quarter of the 2,600+ young adults DFN Project SEARCH has supported into work found employment in the NHS

US federal health employers

• Federal employers such as the Department of Veterans Affairs can use the Schedule A hiring authority, which lets agencies appoint people with intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities or psychiatric disabilities without the usual competitive process
• Pair this with a clear, well-run reasonable accommodation process

Specialist employment support partnerships

• Partner with supported employment providers to place disabled people in clinical and non-clinical roles
• Look for job coaching, interview preparation and in-work support
• Focus on sustainable careers, not just job placement

Implementation Guide for Healthcare HR

Phase 1: Foundation (Months 1–3)

• Audit current workforce disability data: What percentage of staff identify as disabled? In the NHS, 5.7% of staff declared a disability on the Electronic Staff Record in 2024, while 25.2% identified as disabled in the anonymous NHS Staff Survey — a large gap that shows how much under-declaration there is
• Review recruitment process accessibility: Can a blind person complete your application? A person with dyslexia? Someone who uses voice control?
• Map accommodation capability: What accommodations can you offer today? What requires new investment?
• Engage occupational health: Ensure OH focuses on enabling work, not gatekeeping

Phase 2: Pipeline Building (Months 3–6)

• Partner with disability employment organisations: Supported employment providers, local employment services and university disability services
• Create targeted internship/work experience programmes: Model on Project SEARCH
• Attend disability-focused recruitment events and advertise on disability-specific job boards
• Review job descriptions: Remove unnecessary requirements (for example, a heavy-lifting requirement when the role rarely involves lifting)

Phase 3: Accommodation Infrastructure (Months 4–8)

• Create an accommodation request process: Simple, confidential, fast (resolution within weeks, not months)
• Train hiring managers: Focus on essential functions, not assumptions about what disabled people cannot do
• Fix shift scheduling: Offer fixed shifts, flexible start times, and compressed schedules
• Technology: Ensure clinical systems (EHR, scheduling, communication) are accessible

Phase 4: Culture and Retention (Ongoing)

• Disability Staff Network: Funded, visible, with direct access to senior leadership
• Mentoring: Connect disabled new starters with established disabled staff
• Career development: Ensure disabled staff have equal access to training, secondments, and promotion
• Exit interview analysis: Track whether disabled staff leave at higher rates and why

Return on Investment

The financial case for disability-inclusive healthcare recruitment:

• Reduced agency spend: Permanent employees cost less than agency staff used to fill gaps
• Reduced turnover costs: The average cost of turnover for a bedside registered nurse in US hospitals is $60,090 (2026 NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report)
• Accommodation costs are minimal: 61% of accommodations cost nothing; where there is a one-time cost, the median is $300 (JAN)
• Wider talent pool: Access to candidates competitors overlook
• Reduced legal risk: Proactive inclusion reduces discrimination claims

Resources

• NHS Employers: Internships for staff with learning disabilities
• DFN Project SEARCH: dfnprojectsearch.org
• Job Accommodation Network (JAN): askjan.org
• WHO: Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030