NHSScotland and the Disability
Discrimination Act 1995
Disability Rights Commission
The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) exists to achieve a society
where all disabled people can participate fully as equal citizens.
The DRC has a duty to promote and enforce the Disability
Discrimination Act in practice. We work extensively
with disabled people, service providers and employers to offer
practical solutions that work for everyone.
In February 2003 we held a joint one-day seminar for health
service providers with the Scottish Executive Health Department
in partnership with NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, Scottish
Human Services, Forth Valley Primary Care Trust and Lanarkshire
Health Board. The event aimed to raise awareness of how to
improve access to health services for disabled people.
The DRC recognises that health service providers welcome
support and advice on meeting their legal duties and we encourage
people to go beyond the minimum requirements set out in law
to ensure that health services are accessible for disabled
people and delivered in partnership with patients.
The DRC is a key provider of information and advice for disabled
people, service providers and employers on the DDA and good
practice. You can link to our website to refer to Codes
of Practice and specific
guidance which give examples to illustrate what the
legal duties may look like in practice as well as guidance
on how to achieve equality in your service.
The DRC continues to develop further guidance and tools such
as an appraisal toolkit and these will be available from our
website. Our Helpline details are also on the website
(0845 number, calls are charged at local rate).
We hope you find these links useful and welcome your feedback
and input through the comments page on the website.
Yours Sincerely
Bob Benson
Director
Disability Rights Commission
Scotland
Please
note that the Scottish Executive Health Department is not
responsible for external sites and cannot guarantee the accuracy
or currency of any of the material you may find there. The
existence of an external link is not an endorsement by the
Scottish Executive Health Department of any external company,
its services or products.
