Mr A McGuinness v Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust — 2023

The claimant was a Senior Nurse Practitioner who had impaired cognitive ability following a brain haemorrhage. The respondent accepted that he was disabled for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 and knew of his disability. Access to Work had recommended equipment, software, training and noise cancelling headphones to address disadvantages arising from his memory, concentration and multitasking difficulties.

The tribunal found that the respondent failed to take reasonable steps to provide the recommended auxiliary aids and relevant training within a reasonable time. It also found that the respondent should have ensured the claimant did not perform caseload holder duties until the equipment and training were in place, and that relying on the claimant to tell colleagues about that restriction was not sufficient.

The tribunal concluded that the claim for failure to make reasonable adjustments was brought within the Equality Act 2010 time limits. It found that failures to chase the outstanding aids and training continued into 2021, and that the March 2021 decision not to take further action to inform team leaders and coordinators was within time after ACAS Early Conciliation.