1. Introduction
The Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) programme was established in 2019. It requires organisations to report against ten indicators of disability equality and supports continuous improvement through robust action planning to tackle the root causes of discrimination.
Inequalities in any form are at odds with our values. Research shows that the fair treatment of our staff is directly linked to better clinical outcomes and better experience of care for patients.
This report represents the seventh publication since the WDES was established. It is pleasing to report that there are some positive findings for the 2025 report, particularly in terms of declaration rates and improvements to some of the staff survey metrics: reduced experience of bullying and harassment from patients, relatives or the public and also colleagues; increased percentage of staff saying that the last time they experienced harassment, bullying or abuse at work, they or a colleague reported it. There are further areas where analysis of the information is required to fully understand the results and to explore the reasons behind the data.
We are committed to tackling disability discrimination to bridge the gaps in experience, opportunity and differential attainment in our diverse workforce. A key tool to understanding and correcting these inequities is the presentation of detailed data to key work streams, which will allow us to identify the targets for action.
2. Trust requirements
This report is intended to provide the People Group with the initial high level detail, ahead of the data collection deadline of 31 May 2025, which is where the WDES metrics are uploaded to NHS England via the Data Collection Framework (DCF) portal.
Work will then commence to produce the Trust’s annual WDES report, which will be published on the Trust’s internet site no later than 31 October 2025.
3. WDES indicators 2025
A summary of the results for North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust is shown in the table below. This includes comparison of the Trust’s results covering a five-year period (2021 to 2025).
The baseline data has been extracted from ESR, Workforce databases and the Trac recruitment system to calculate a response to each of the ten WDES indicators.
Indicator 1 Percentage of staff with a disability or long term health condition
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 2.0% | 3.0% | 4.0% | 4.9% | 6.3% |
| Non-clinical | 2.0% | 3.0% | 4.0% | 5.2% | 6.3% |
| Clinical | 2.0% | 3.0% | 3.0% | 4.8% | 6.5% |
Indicator 2 – The relative likelihood of Disabled staff being appointed from shortlisting compared to Non-Disabled staff
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.94 | 0.98 | 1.25 | 0.90 | 0.98* |
*Remains positive as 1.00 would indicate equal experience of both non-disabled and disabled staff
Indicator 3 – The relative likelihood of Disabled staff entering the formal capability process compared to Non-Disabled staff
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Indicator 4a – Percentage of staff experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from patients, relatives or the public in last 12 months
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff with a disability or LTC | 29.6% | 28.6% | 30.7% | 28.1% | 26.0% |
| Staff without | 24.1% | 26.3% | 23.5% | 20.1% | 21.1% |
Indicator 4b – Percentage of staff experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from manager in last 12 months
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff with a disability or LTC | 18.3% | 14.2% | 12.5% | 10.5% | 12.2% |
| Staff without | 7.5% | 7.6% | 6.3% | 5.1% | 4.9% |
Indicator 4c – Percentage of staff experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from other colleagues in last 12 months
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff with a disability or LTC | 23.4% | 19.9% | 23.2% | 21.1% | 19.6% |
| Staff without | 13.8% | 13.3% | 12.7% | 11.9% | 12.0% |
Indicator 4d – Percentage of staff saying that the last time they experienced harassment, bullying or abuse at work, they or a colleague reported it
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff with a disability or LTC | 54.3% | 46.2% | 53.2% | 50.4% | 50.8% |
| Staff without | 47.3% | 47.3% | 48.1% | 49.3% | 50.2% |
Indicator 5 – Percentage of staff who believe that their organisation provides equal opportunities for career progression or promotion
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff with a disability or LTC | 54.5% | 57.6% | 57.3% | 55.6% | 53.3% |
| Staff without | 62.6% | 65.5% | 65.3% | 64.8% | 58.7% |
Indicator 6 – Percentage of staff who have felt pressure from their manager to come to work, despite not feeling well enough to perform their duties
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff with a disability or LTC | 39.0% | 27.8% | 26.9% | 26.7% | 26.8% |
| Staff without | 14.9% | 21.0% | 18.0% | 15.8% | 14.3% |
Indicator 7 – Percentage of staff satisfied with the extent to which their organisation values their work
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff with a disability or LTC | 36.9% | 37.4% | 34.6% | 36.3% | 35.5% |
| Staff without | 53.3% | 47.6% | 48.4% | 50.8% | 48.8% |
Indicator 8 – Percentage of staff with a long lasting health condition or illness saying their employer has made adequate adjustment(s) to enable them to carry out their work
Staff with a disability or LTC:
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 74.2% | 74.1% | 72.9% | 75.4% | 74.3% |
Indicator 9 – Staff engagement score (0 -10)
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff with a disability or LTC | 6.7 | 6.6 | 6.6 | 6.6 | 6.5 |
| Staff without | 7.3 | 7.1 | 7.2 | 7.1 | 7.1 |
| Overall | 7.1 | 6.9 | 7.0 | 6.9 | 6.9 |
Indicator 10 – Disabled/LTC board membership
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0% | 7.1% | 0.0% | 3.0% | 0.0% |
4. Key findings for 2025
The key findings in respect of the ten WDES indicators for 2025 are summarised below.
We are currently only able to undertake benchmarking for those areas which relate to the staff survey (indicators 4-9). Full benchmarking information is published by the national WDES team and this is expected for March 2026. The data for the UK Census which took place in 2021 is now available for analysis and reporting and this provides us with a more accurate picture of the UK’s disability profile, which can also be broken down by Region and Local Authority Area.
- Hartlepool Population: 22.9% Disabled and 77.1% Non-Disabled
- UK Population: 17.8% Disabled and 82.2% Non-Disabled
- North East Population: 21.2% Disabled and 78.8% Non-Disabled
- Stockton Population: 20.2% Disabled and 79.8% Non-Disabled
Indicators 1 and 10 – Percentage of staff with a disability or long term health condition
Representative Workforce across all protected characteristics at all levels
This information is obtained from the Trust’s ESR system as at 31 March 2025.
There has been a positive increase in the number of staff who have reported their disability status on ESR – an increase of 1.4% from 4.9% in 2024 to 6.3% in 2025. This is a result of continued staff campaigns, on how to use the online self-declaration service on ESR and also by raising awareness of this during relevant disability and staff network events and the importance of Trust workforce data. The North East’s disability data (2021 census) is reported at 21.2% therefore representation within the Trust is lower.
Representation is highest at Band 5, and there are no disabled staff employed at Bands 8d, 9 and VSM.
Representation of Disabled staff at Board and senior management levels
For reporting purposes we are only able to report on Board members who are directly employed by North Tees and Hartlepool Foundation Trust. Representation at Board level is under represented at 0%, as compared to the Trust’s workforce of 6.3% of staff with a disability/LTC. We have seen a positive increase at Band 8c.
Indicator 2 – The relative likelihood of Disabled staff being appointed from shortlisting compared to Non-Disabled staff
Equity of Experience
This information is obtained from the Trust’s Trac Recruitment System for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 and considers a ratio showing the likelihood of being appointed following shortlisting. A figure of 1 indicates equal experience between disabled and non-disabled applicants.
The current figure for 2025 is reported as 0.98 which indicates shortlisted disabled applicants are more likely to be appointed following shortlisting than non-disabled applicants.
(A figure below 1:00 indicates that Disabled staff are more likely than Non-Disabled staff to be appointed from shortlisting.)
Indicator 3 – The relative likelihood of Disabled staff entering the formal capability process compared to Non-Disabled staff
This information is obtained from the Trust’s Workforce databases and considers a ratio showing the likelihood of entering formal capability processes. A figure of 1 indicates equal experience between disabled and non-disabled staff.
There have been no formal capability cases involving staff with a disability or long term condition, therefore it remains the case that staff without a disability are more likely to enter a formal capability process.
The data shows us that there were two individuals who had not declared their disability status, which is potentially a missed opportunity where consideration of reasonable adjustments could have taken place to support the member of staff.
Indicator 4a – Percentage of staff experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from patients, relatives or the public in last 12 months
Staff Survey Key Findings – B&H Public
This information is derived from the 2024 Staff Survey.
Staff survey results show a positive decrease in the number of disabled staff who have experienced harassment, bullying and abuse from patients, relatives/public (26% compared to 28.1% for 2023).
Staff with a disability/LTC continue to be more likely to experience harassment, bullying/abuse from patients than staff who do not have a disability and the gap is reported as 4.9%.
Staff are required to log all incidents of service user violence and harassment via InPhase and the information is reported through Yellowfin. The Trust’s Keeping People Safe group reviews this information on a regular basis to identify trends and this includes analysis of related themes where available.
Indicator 4b – Percentage of staff experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from manager in last 12 months
Staff Survey Key Findings – B&H Manager
This information is derived from the 2024 Staff Survey.
Staff survey results show an increase in the number of disabled staff experiencing harassment, bullying and abuse from a manager (12.2% compared to 10.5% for 2023).
Staff with a disability/LTC continue to be more likely to experience harassment, bullying/abuse from a manager than staff who do not have a disability, the gap has increased for 2024 and this is currently reported as 7.3%.
Indicator 4c – Percentage of staff experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from other colleagues in last 12 months
Staff Survey Key Findings – B&H Colleagues
This information is derived from the 2024 Staff Survey.
Staff survey results show a decrease in the number of disabled staff experiencing harassment, bullying and abuse from a colleague (19.6% compared to 21.1% in 2023).
Staff with a disability/LTC continue to be more likely to experience harassment, bullying/abuse from a colleague than staff who do not have a disability. The gap has decreased for 2024 and this is reported as 7.6% (compared to 9.2% for 2023).
Indicator 4d – Percentage of staff saying that the last time they experienced harassment, bullying or abuse at work, they or a colleague reported it
Staff Survey Key Findings – Reporting
This information is derived from the 2024 Staff Survey.
Staff survey results show a very slight increase in the number of disabled staff who have reported harassment, bullying and abuse (50.8% compared to 50.3% for 2023).
Staff with a disability/LTC are more likely to report harassment, bullying/abuse than staff who do not have a disability, with a reported gap of 0.6%. It is important that our staff feel supported to report concerns regarding bullying and harassment and all cases are logged and monitored by the People Services Team.
Indicator 5 – Percentage of staff who believe that their organisation provides equal opportunities for career progression or promotion
Staff Survey Key Findings – Equal Opportunities
This information is derived from the 2024 Staff Survey.
The results have decreased in terms of the % of both disabled and non-disabled staff who believe the organisation provides equal opportunities for career progression or promotion. The disabled staff figures are reported as 53.2% compared to 55.6% for 2023 and non-disabled staff is reported 58.7 % compared to 64.8% for 2023.
Staff with a disability/LTC continue to report lower levels of equal opportunities than staff who do not have a disability. The gap in experience is currently reported as 5.5%.
Indicator 6 – Percentage of staff who have felt pressure from their manager to come to work, despite not feeling well enough to perform their duties
Staff Survey Key Findings – Attendance at work whilst unwell
This information is derived from the 2024 Staff Survey.
The results show a static position in the number of disabled staff who have felt pressure from their manager to come to work whilst unwell (26.8% compared to 26.7% for 2023).
Staff with a disability/LTC continue to be more likely to report pressure to attend work whilst unwell than staff who do not have a disability. The gap has increased for 2024 and this is reported as 14.5%, compared to 10.9% for 2023.
Indicator 7 – Percentage of staff satisfied with the extent to which their organisation values their work
Staff Survey Key Findings – Feeling Valued
This information is derived from the 2024 Staff Survey.
The number of disabled staff who feel satisfied that the organisation values their work has decreased for 2024 to 35.5%, compared to 36.3% for 2023.
Staff with a disability/LTC continue to be less likely to feel valued than staff who do not have a disability and the gap is reported at 13.3% which is a decrease of 1.2% from 2023.
Indicator 8 – Percentage of staff with a long lasting health condition or illness saying their employer has made adequate adjustment(s) to enable them to carry out their work
Staff Survey Key Findings – Reasonable Adjustments
This information is derived from the 2024 Staff Survey.
Staff survey results have decreased in terms of the number of disabled staff who have reported that the Trust has made adequate reasonable adjustments to enable them to carry out their work (74.3% compared to 75.4% for 2023), the figure still remains above the national average for this question.
Training continues to be delivered to managers on the application of the policy in practice and the People Clinics are well established within the Care Groups and take place regularly.
Indicator 9 – Staff engagement score (0 -10)
Survey Key Findings – Engagement
This information is derived from the 2024 Staff Survey.
Staff survey results show that the staff engagement score for staff with a disability/LTC is 6.5. This has shown a slight decrease of 0.1% when compared to 6.6 in 2023
Staff with a disability/LTC continue to be more likely to report lower levels of engagement than staff who do not have a disability. However, it’s positive that we continue to report higher than the national benchmarking data which indicates that the engagement score for disabled staff is 6.4, which is 0.1 lower than the Trust figure.
5. Conclusion and next steps
Our actions to improve the Trust’s WDES metrics align with the Group People values specifically ‘respect’ and support our commitments to the NHS People Plan.
We are pleased to report an improvement in some of the metrics for 2025 and note that this is a reflection of our EDI programme of work and the investment we have made in terms of data analysis and focused interventions to improve staff experience across the range of protected characteristics.
We will continue to promote the activities and good practice that we already undertake, including: undertaking fair and transparent recruitment processes; delivery of civility and unconscious bias training and promotion of various leadership and development opportunities which exist across the Trust.
We take disability equality seriously and whilst we have already implemented a number of practices which will have a positive impact in this area, we understand that change will require a significant cultural shift within the organisation. We know that our workforce disability profile will not change overnight, however we are continuing to see a gradual increase in the number of disabled staff who have declared their status. It is also important that we continue to grow the membership of our Ability staff network to help us facilitate the voices of our disabled staff and improve staff experience overall.
It is noted that this is a high-level report based on the overall workforce metrics. The next stage in the reporting process will be to engage with our workforce to share the results and jointly develop the action plan to be included in the WDES annual report for October 2025.
Downloadable PDF document
Click the link below to view or download our annual WDES report for 2022:
Workforce disability equality standards report 2025 (579kB pdf)
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