Welcome to the first edition of CEO Insights. I want to share some thoughts on how the UK’s major institutions, including Parliament and the NHS, are falling short in supporting people with disabilities, and why this matters to all of us.

Accessibility Barriers: A National Challenge

Last week’s reports about accessibility barriers within Parliament highlight something deeply uncomfortable: even the centre of our democracy remains inaccessible to many of the people elected to serve within it. People with disabilities have described struggling to navigate the estate, participate in debates, or carry out their roles because of outdated processes and physical barriers. These concerns were highlighted again in recent reporting, including people with disabilities describing long waits, inaccessible procedures and physical barriers across the Parliamentary estate (London Daily – Disabled MPs discuss challenges in UK Parliament accessibility: https://bit.ly/3PrY6Ll.

And Parliament is not alone.

The NHS, the institution most relied upon by people with disabilities, is also falling short in ways that have real, measurable consequences.

The Scale of Disability in the UK

  • 16.8 million people in the UK are disabled — that’s 1 in 4 of us.
  • Disability prevalence has risen by 5 percentage points in the last decade.

These figures come from the UK Government’s official disability statistics (source: ONS – Disability and employment, UK).

What’s Happening Inside the NHS

The NHS Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) shows a mixed picture (source: NHS England – Workforce Disability Equality Standard ).

  • Nearly 1 in 4 NHS staff has a disability or long term condition.
  • Disabled staff are more than twice as likely to be performance managed
  • They experience higher levels of bullying and harassment
  • And many report that reasonable adjustments are still inconsistent

If this is the experience of people with disabilities working within the NHS, it is not hard to imagine the barriers faced by people with disabilities trying to access NHS services, overstimulating environments, inaccessible appointment systems, and long waits for essential care.

A Personal Reflection

This isn’t abstract for me. At the end of 2019, a close friend, who was also a member of Touchbase, died following a series of avoidable failures within the NHS and ambulance service. I took over the initial emergency call from a carer, and I was with him when he died.

During the inquest, the coroner found that despite me repeatedly explaining that he had a moderate learning disability and could not answer triage questions in the way the system required, the NHS Pathways process continued as if that information didn’t matter. The report noted that he would “give the responses that he felt the questioner would want to hear” and that there was no protocol for callers who could not understand or communicate in the way the system expected.

His appointments had been cancelled without explanation. Scans that should have been ordered never were. And when he needed urgent help, the system simply wasn’t designed for someone like him.

I want to be clear that I am a strong advocate for the NHS and deeply value the extraordinary work it delivers every day. Many of us, myself included, have seen first hand the skill, compassion, and dedication of NHS staff. My reflections here are not a criticism of those individuals, but of the systems around them. When processes are not designed with people with disabilities in mind, even the most committed professionals can be constrained by structures that make it harder to deliver safe, equitable care.

A Prevention of Future Deaths Report – and a Two Year Wait for a Response

Following the inquest, the coroner issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report to NHS Digital and the Department of Health and Social Care. By law, a response is required within 56 days.

In this case, the Minister’s reply arrived almost two years later.

In that response, the Minister apologised for the “significant delay” and acknowledged the seriousness of the concerns raised, including the lack of any protocol for callers with learning disabilities and the risks this poses for future emergencies.

When a report designed to prevent further deaths sits unanswered for that long, it raises difficult questions about how urgently the safety of people with disabilities is prioritised at a national level.

Two Institutions, One Message

When both Parliament and the NHS struggle to meet the needs of people with disabilities, the message is clear:

Accessibility is still treated as optional, not essential.

And that’s without even touching on the barriers people with disabilities face across other major institutions; from rail companies to policing, HMRC, education, local authorities, and wider public services, each with their own long standing and well documented accessibility issues. The pattern is national, not isolated.

And when the UK’s most powerful institutions fall short, it sets a tone that filters down into workplaces, public services, schools, colleges and universities, and the issues become embedded in community life.

What This Means for Organisations Like Ours

At Touchbase Care, we see every day how much difference it makes when environments and systems are intentionally designed to reduce barriers. We’re not claiming perfection, but we are committed to listening, learning, and improving. Our focus is on creating spaces and support that reflect what our members tell us they need, and on adapting as those needs evolve.

Inclusion isn’t about grand statements. It’s about the everyday experience of being able to participate without unnecessary obstacles.

A Call for Leadership

Parliament and the NHS have an opportunity, and a responsibility, to lead by example. If they modernise their systems, redesign their environments, and embed accessibility into their culture, it will set a powerful precedent for every other public institution.

Until that happens, organisations like ours will continue doing the work in front of us, removing barriers where we can, challenging assumptions, and striving to create environments where people with disabilities can participate fully, not fight for access.

Because at the heart of all this is a simple truth: everyone deserves visibility, belonging and independence. Our national institutions should reflect that. Until they do, we will keep building the kind of community where people are seen, valued and supported to flourish.