The lack of data on the number of doctors living with a disability was highlighted at the recent Spring Conference of the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland.
The President of the Medical Council, Dr Suzanne Crowe, was speaking on equality, diversity and inclusion in medicine, and the role of doctors in the area.
In her talk to the meeting, which took place last month, Dr Crowe highlighted Medical Council workforce data with recommendations on what can be done to tackle inequality in the medical profession.
She emphasised how important it is to understand an employee’s cultural background in order to support and retain them in the workforce.
“There are a lot of practical things that can be done on a day-to-day level and our postgraduate training bodies can definitely lead on that,” Dr Crowe said. “We in the Medical Council, whilst we are not employers, there is a lot that we can do to support [this] as well.”
Turning to the area of disability in medicine, Dr Crowe said that while she wanted to present relevant statistics, the Council does not currently collect data in this area.
“And I am not aware of any body within the profession that does,” she said.
“I do think that is a major deficit. Because if you look at census 2022 data, there are increasing numbers in our population, who must include doctors and other healthcare workers, who self-identify as having either a hidden or more visible disability.”
Dr Crowe said that a “big piece of work” is required to make medicine more inclusive for people with disabilities.
“So that we can include people of all backgrounds to come and work in medicine,” Dr Crowe said. “There is no reason in the world why someone with a significant physical disability could not train to be a doctor and work [as] a doctor.” See conference coverage
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