NHS LOTHIAN | STAFF NETWORKS
Disabled Employee Network (DEN)
Around 40% of the workforce have some form of impairment – some lesser and others higher – which can impact on their working and personal lives. The social model of disability sees the person first and argues that the barriers people face, in combination with their impairments, are what disables them.
The Disabled Employee Network (DEN) welcomes any member of NHS Lothian staff who identifies as disabled, neurodivergent, or with a long-term health condition. You don’t need a formal diagnosis, and you don’t need to disclose your condition to your line manager or to other DEN members.
The aim of DEN is to encourage contact, support and friendship among members of staff who self identify as having an impairment or disability, bringing together diverse staff from across NHS Lothian into an environment where issues of disability can be discussed in confidence and where advice and information can be sought. DEN will raise the profile of disability in NHS Lothian in a staff centred way. DEN will research best practice on workplace disability and will gather members’ experiences to better inform NHS Lothian on how best practice can benefit organisational goals and foster good employee relations.
Meetings
All meetings take place in our Teams channel. Contact us if you would like to receive the Teams invitation.
Next meeting:
Our next meeting is Thursday 27 August at 5pm. This is a change from our usual evening time!
Future meetings:
- Thursday 17 September at 12.30pm
- Thursday 22 October at 6pm
- Monday 16 November at 12.30pm (NB: we’re trying a different day of the week!)
- Thursday 10 December at 6pm
DEN Chairs Blog
Closing Disability Pride Month 2026: My drop
by Emma Chalmers, DEN co-chair
As we come to the end of Disability Pride Month for 2026, I come to this blog with thoughts. Some well-formed, some chaotic, all are mine, but I suspect a bunch of you will vibe with them.
So here goes.
I’m tired. Like to the depths of my soul, can’t see the end, bone tired. I’m tired of watching people in power around the world make life harder for almost everyone, whilst benefiting so few. I’m tired of wars and genocides occurring right now, that will be creating more disabled people and knowing what those people will face for the rest of their lives when fighting for everything.
I’m tired of the fight. I’m tired of masking and the exhaustion that brings. I’m tired of showing bigots and ableists that I contribute just as much, if not more, to society than them. I’m tired of seeing my peers who are marginalised in other ways go through the same fights over and over again. I’m tired of a world that acts as though dog-eat-dog is the only way to live and spreading kindness is some sort of weakness.
I’m tired.
And that’s ok. Positivity takes you so far but with the world on fire (literally in some places) at the moment, it’s ok that I feel it. I don’t think I’d make a very good co-chair to this network if I didn’t feel for others.
I think what is important now is how I use these feelings. The temptation to hide under a blanket fort on my sofa, eating ice cream and watching old re-reruns of ER is strong right now but how will that help me or others? Not to mention, the lactose allergy would really mean I was in trouble!
I’m allowed to grieve for the way the world is right now but as a human being, I have a responsibility to myself and others to try to tip the balance back towards the positive. My drop in that vast ocean will be minute, microscopic and might feel entirely worthless. But if even a quarter of the people on earth add their drops- well, that’s a mighty fine sized ocean. Two billion drops of light.
So, I’ll work out what my drop looks like and use it. Maybe it’s keeping on with the DEN work. Maybe its attending a peaceful protest to support my trans brothers and sisters. Maybe its boycotting companies that I know back genocidal authorities. Maybe it’s making a sad friend a cup of tea and offering them a space in my blanket fort. My drop won’t be huge. But maybe the ripple it forms will be. And that’s ok.
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