The Trust has received recognition as a ‘Disability Confident Leader’ by the Department for Work and Pensions.

They were given the coveted status by the DWP Disability Confident Scheme this week for the work undertaken by the service to recruit people with disabilities and support our staff with disabilities.

The Disability Confident scheme has been running since November 2016 and supports the Government’s commitment to help one million more disabled people into work, within the next 10 years.

The initiatives undertaken by the Trust to support people with disabilities include the following:

• Actively attracting and recruiting disabled people to help fill opportunities (including jobs, apprenticeships, internships, work experience, etc.)
• Providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process.
• Being flexible when assessing people so disabled job applicants have the best opportunity to demonstrate that they can do the job.
• Ensuring employees have appropriate disability equality awareness training.
• Supporting employees to manage their disabilities or health conditions.
• Ensuring there are no barriers to the development and progression of disabled staff.

Anthony Marsh, the Trust’s Chief Executive Officer, said:

“I am immensely proud that West Midlands Ambulance Service is one of only two ambulance services in the country to be awarded this status.

“We pride ourselves on being an inclusive place to work as well as providing excellent care to our patients regardless of health inequalities.

“The quality of our service relies heavily on our staff, and we can only deliver an excellent service by continuing to show respect for and giving support to each and every member of staff.

“I would like to place on record my sincere thanks to everyone at West Midlands Ambulance Service, in particular my staff within Recruitment and Human Resources for their dedication and commitment to equality.”