Introduction Future Frontline is a community interest company that widens access to healthcare professions and supports current students and professionals through their careers. ‘Championing a Supportive Healthcare Workforce: Disability Inclusion Conference’ was designed to raise awareness of how we can support disabled healthcare colleagues and enable them to access adjustments where necessary. It is thought that greater competence and understanding of these is required (Azizatunnisa et al., 2023), especially with only 55% of disabled medical students and doctors requiring adjustments actually obtaining them (BMA, 2022). We believe that it is vital to educate students and professionals from across the multidisciplinary team to promote an inclusive community that everyone feels comfortable in and promote greater accessibility within our system.

Aims and objectives of the research project or activity

1. To raise awareness of different types of disabilities present in the healthcare workforce.

2. To consider ways in which we can strengthen and broaden approaches towards proactive disability inclusion to maximise potential.

3. To make working in the healthcare profession more inclusive for those with a disability by: a- normalising reasonable adjustments and alternative ways of working b- empowering students and professionals to make adjustments for colleagues with disabilities c- creating inclusive workspaces

Method or approach In collaboration with Portsmouth Healthcare University NHS Trust, an in-person conference was held on 22nd November at Queen Alexandra Hospital (Cosham) to highlight the importance of making reasonable adjustments for professionals with disabilities and demonstrate ways that we can support our colleagues in healthcare. We had a series of talks about the diversity formula, reasonable adjustments, fostering a neurodiverse healthcare environment and empowerment through awareness of mental health. In addition, we also held two workshops based on overcoming healthcare disability barriers and teaching BSL.

Findings The conference had 50 attendees, with 21 consenting for research: 81% were professional, 14.3% were students and 4.8% were apprentices. On average, delegates rated their level of confidence talking about people with disabilities before the conference (1 = not confident at all; 5 = fully confident) 2.95/5 before the conference, and 4.16/5 after. 100% stated they would recommend our conference to a friend. 95.2% of the participants felt that the conference helped to raise awareness of different types of disabilities present in the healthcare workforce and 95.2% felt empowered to be able to make adjustments for colleagues with disabilities.

Key messages The conference demonstrated the benefit of raising awareness of different types of disability and highlighted a few key methods of breaking down barriers for disabled colleagues, including, but not limited to:

1. Greater flexibility within the workforce to allow for particular working hours as well as provision of accessible infrastructure (such as technology).

2. Obligatory mental health first aid training for all healthcare students and professionals.

3. Further training at university or upon entry into the workforce on ways we can support disabled colleagues