Doctors with disabilities in the NHS face worse workloads, higher burnout, and slower career progression than their non-disabled colleagues—and these gaps have widened since 2019. This matters because the NHS loses highly trained staff it can ill afford to lose, while patients with disabilities miss out on care from doctors who understand their perspectives. The research will first analyse the UK Medical Education Database to pinpoint exactly where and when career disparities emerge—whether during specialty training, promotion, or retention. Then, through an institutional ethnography, the team will shadow doctors with disabilities to uncover the everyday barriers—from inflexible rotas to inaccessible equipment—that the data alone cannot reveal. If successful, the study will produce a set of co-developed recommendations with the Disabled Doctors Network and NHS policymakers. These could reshape training pathways, workplace adjustments, and career support systems, making it feasible for doctors with disabilities to progress without burning out. The project has no immediate clinical application; its impact is structural, targeting the policies and practices that quietly push skilled doctors out of the workforce.
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Research question What are the career progression and related experiences of doctors with disabilities working within the UK NHS and how can we enhance these to improve equity of training and career progression opportunities and retention? Background Doctors with disabilities (DWD) in the UK have worse experiences than doctors without disabilities in terms of struggling with workload, being at risk of burnout and reporting difficulty in providing sufficient patient care, and these disparities have increased since first assessed in 2019. In addition, globally doctors with disabilities report reduced choice of specialty training and delays in career progression. This is a situation that should not occur, particularly given the benefits that having a diverse healthcare workforce can bring, such as retention of highly trained individuals in the workforce; greater acknowledgment of the perspectives and challenges of patients with disabilities and potential to increase healthcare provision for underserviced populations. This is important as both morally and legally, doctors with disabilities should have equal opportunities in their careers. Aims This study aims to generate a comprehensive understanding of career progression and related experiences of doctors with disabilities working within the UK NHS. It also aims to develop recommendations to enhance retention via equity of training and career progression opportunities. Methods We will work with the Disabled Doctors Network as co-applicant within the study and apply a co-production approach to working with stakeholders. The research aims will be accomplished via three workstreams (WS). WS 1 involves a secondary analysis of data from the UKMED database allowing us to identify timepoints or factors (contextual or demographic) where disparities in career progression exist. WS2 involves an institutional ethnography study investigating what considerations are required for working and career progression within the NHS by DWD. WS3 includes continual engagement of the research team with stakeholders and via a synthesis event will co-produce a final set of recommendations regarding support for equity of career progression opportunities for DWD to aid retention within the NHS workforce. Timelines for delivery This project will be successfully completed over a 36 month period, with WS1 and WS2 being conducted in parallel over the initial 30 - 34 months of the project. WS3 will occur throughout the 36 months of the study. Anticipated impact and dissemination Awareness raising via multi-modal dissemination including conference presentation, social media channels, website, podcasts, engagement with identified stakeholders and academic publications will ensure wide dissemination. Via engagement and co-production with stakeholders we anticipate that recommendations will be implementable and that there is useful buy in from relevant policy makers. These factors enhance the anticipated impact from the study.
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