The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) has been reaccredited as a Disability Confident Leader, the highest level of the UK government’s national scheme.

The reaccreditation, announced on 9 March 2026, follows an assessment of the organisation’s commitment to recruiting, developing, and retaining employees with disabilities and long-term health conditions. Based in Newcastle upon Tyne, the NHSBSA is an arm’s-length body of the Department of Health and Social Care, managing approximately £100 billion of NHS expenditure annually.

The assessment highlighted the organisation's "GROW" (Growth, Reflection, Opportunity, Wellbeing) programme as a key strength. This initiative replaces traditional annual appraisals with regular, personalised conversations between staff and managers to better support career progression.

Michael Brodie, Chief Executive of the NHSBSA, said: “I'm very pleased that we have retained our Disability Confident Leader accreditation for a further three years. Making sure that our colleagues with disabilities, health conditions and who are neurodivergent are able to get in, get on and achieve their aspirations is really important to us.

“Thank you to all of our colleagues throughout the organisation who have worked hard to achieve this brilliant outcome. Through the fantastic work of our People team and members of our disability and neurodiversity network, we have introduced focused development opportunities such as our Disability and Neurodivergence Leadership Development Programme and Reciprocal Mentoring for Inclusion Programme.

“We're already seeing the impact of this, with the proportion of colleagues declaring a disability or long-term health condition rising by 1.6% over the past year and colleagues with a disability progressing in line with the organisational average."