A healthcare technology company has been hailed for helping a disabled person get her own job back after she was denied one.
The company, Health Care Technologies UK, has been criticised for failing to provide the same level of support as the job seekers would have expected.
The disabled person, whose identity has not been made public, had been seeking a full-time job with the company since she was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in October last year.
The job seeker had worked for the company for seven months before she received a letter telling her she would not be able to work.
Her story, first reported by The Independent, highlights the difficulties that can be faced when working in a health tech company.
In the letter, HCT UK wrote that they would provide support to the job seeker, but added: “As a private company, Hct UK will not comment on individual cases.
However, we do believe that this individual’s circumstances warrant a full public inquiry into her case.”
It is understood the disabled woman was given a letter by HCT, but she did not receive a formal job offer.
She was given the option to apply to another company, but chose not to, despite her age.
Her manager said she had been “misinformed” about the company’s support options and that she had no other option.
Her letter to HCT read: I am the sole claimant of the Disability Living Allowance (DLA), as I am a woman who was diagnosed in the UK with stage 4 lung Cancer.
I was denied a job offer by Hcts IT Services as a result of my diagnosis and I have been living in hospital for over seven months.
Hct has been in touch with me over the past few weeks asking me questions and I will be responding to your calls and emails.
HCT also said it was “inappropriate” to discuss the details of my case with the media, as it was a private matter.
But the company has also been criticised on social media for not providing the same support the disabled person would have been entitled to.
A number of social media users have also expressed concern about the situation, which they said was “deeply distressing”.
The National Disability Discrimination Commissioner has also spoken out, saying that the disability community needs to speak out against discrimination.
“I have serious concerns that Hct’s treatment of its disabled employees may constitute a serious offence under the Equality Act 2010,” the Commissioner said.
“The Commission is very concerned that HCTs failure to provide a level of care to its disabled staff, particularly as they have an increased burden of care, is deeply distressing and undermines the confidence of the disabled community in the way the Disability Benefits System is run.”
It has also received widespread support online.
One Twitter user wrote: It’s disgusting how HCT is treating their disabled employees.
They are a joke.
#TBT.
The problem here is that this is how Hct treats their disabled staff.
It’s not that Ht doesn’t care.
It is that they don’t understand their disabled members.
The tweet was retweeted more than 8,000 times.
The HCT spokesperson told Business Insider that the disabled man had worked at HCT since August 2015.
“His claim was not made to us and he was not referred to us,” the spokesperson said.
He said HCT had offered the disabled job to a number of other candidates and it was important that people know that.
“He had been working at the company from May 2015 to September 2017, but we were not aware of his specific situation until we received the disability claimant’s letter in September 2017.”
“We were very concerned about the disabled claimant’s situation as we had a lot of people who had similar experiences with HCT,” the HCT spokesman said.
When contacted by Business Insider, the Hct spokesperson said: HCT was very happy to have him work for us and would be happy to discuss any concerns he may have had.
The spokesperson said that Hts IT Services, which is part of HCT’s larger business unit, had received complaints about the issue from people on social platforms and other organisations. “
We are currently in discussions with the disabled claimants manager to help them understand their situation.”
The spokesperson said that Hts IT Services, which is part of HCT’s larger business unit, had received complaints about the issue from people on social platforms and other organisations.
He added: There has been a huge response from disabled people and people who have been affected by this.
We have also heard about the concerns of the public, including people who work with us.
He explained that HTS IT Services was “working with Hct and other partners to make sure that Hcy does the right thing for the vulnerable people in their care”.