Care home committed to help the disabled at work
A LANCASHIRE-based care home has been accepted onto a major national scheme to help support and develop disabled people or those with long-term health conditions in the workplace.
Birch Green Care Home, Ivydale, Skelmersdale, is committed to the Disability Confident scheme to positively change attitudes, behaviours and cultures towards employing people who may find it challenging to find work due to health-related issues.
As a Disability Confident employer, Springhill is fully supported by the Government to put provisions in place, allowing it to create a safe, inclusive work environment that is accessible to current and future employees.
The scheme has three levels that support employers through each step of their journey.
When companies are accepted onto the scheme they become known as Disability Confident Committed. There are a number of commitments that need to be met to progress onto level two and three.
Level two engages employers for a further two years, they can then step up to become Disability Confident Employers and, once level three has been completed, employers develop into Disability Confident Leaders.
Virginia Perkins, director for people and organisational development at Springhill Care Group, operators of Birch Green Care Home, said: “Being a Disability Confident Committed care home endorses our aim to ensure we proactively offer employment opportunities to disabled people and those with long-term health conditions.
“Our aim at Birch Green is to help individuals fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations within a work environment.
“The scheme has enabled us to support apprenticeships, work placements and offer interviews to individuals with disabilities applying for work. Through the assistance of the occupational health service, we are also able make reasonable adjustments for current employees to enable them to stay in work.
“We want to set an example to other healthcare organisations that are capable of offering employment to people with disabilities that don’t currently do so.”
Scope, a disability charity, estimates that, of the 13.3m disabled people in the UK, only around 3.4m are in employment. The Disability Confident scheme, launched in 2016, has helped more than 5,000 companies create a more inclusive workforce.