I am a capable doctor with health needs that only become problematic due to the inability of the working environment to acknowledge entirely reasonable adjustments.Consultant doctor survey respondent
In May 2025, the BMA held a UK-wide survey of doctors and medical students who are disabled and/or neurodivergent and/or have a long-term health condition/s.
2025 survey report and findings
Key survey findings
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Many disabled doctors and medical students struggle to get the adjustments they need and are entitled to. Three-quarters of respondents who needed reasonable adjustments (73%) said they hadn’t received all the adjustments they need.
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Respondents described battling with reasonable adjustment processes that were unclear, slow-moving and time-consuming, and that left them feeling exhausted and stigmatised. Two in five (43%) said they had had to use their own money to pay for adjustments.
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70% of respondents thought ableism was an issue in their place of work/study and over half of respondents (56%) thought ableism was more of an issue in the medical profession than in wider society.
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Workplaces and medical schools do not pay sufficient regard to the realities of living and working with a disability or health condition. Only a fifth (20%) of respondents agreed that their place of work or study’s sickness absence policies took proper account of their disability, neurodivergence or long-term health condition.
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Two-thirds of respondents (67%) said they had notified their current workplace or medical school about being disabled and/o neurodivergent and/or having a long-term health condition. Of these, only one-third (33%) said that telling their workplace or medical school had led to improved support.
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Despite all the challenges, many disabled and neurodivergent doctors and medical students exist and thrive at all career stages, branches of practice and specialties.
BMA support
Read BMA guidance on disability equality in medicine.
If you are a member and would like support from the BMA, please contact us.
The BMA offers 24/7 counselling and peer support services regardless of membership status. To contact by phone, call 0330 123 1245 or find out more about our counselling and peer support services.
The BMA has a DLN (disabilities, long-term conditions and neurodiversity) network for elected members.