Disability equality plan: part 1 - easy read

What has changed

In 2016 we made a plan to make things better for disabled people in Scotland.

You can see our old plan by clicking this link: A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People.

But now we need a new plan for disabled people in Scotland.

This is because the world has changed a lot since 2016.

There are now some new problems for disabled people.

New problem 1: Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic was very difficult for disabled people.

In 2020, 6 out of every 10 people who died of Covid-19 were disabled people.

Covid-19 is still a problem for disabled people.

If some disabled people catch Covid-19, they have a higher chance of very serious illness or death.

New problem 2: Less support

In the Covid-19 pandemic, lots of services for disabled people were stopped or made smaller.

This included things like medical appointments and support at home.

Because of this, many disabled people now have:

• worse physical health
• worse mental health

Healthcare services now have:

• more people who need help
• people with worse problems than before

This means it is difficult for disabled people to get the healthcare services they need.

New problem 3: Cost-of-Living crisis

Another new problem for disabled people is the cost of living crisis.

The cost of living crisis means that the prices of everything are getting higher.

Many people do not have enough money to pay for what they need.

Many disabled people have a lot of extra things to pay for, like:

• buying or renting special equipment
• using more gas or electricity for equipment
• medical items

A charity called Scope asked disabled people about money.

Scope found out that the extra money needed by disabled households in 2023 was over 1 thousand pounds a month.

This is also called the Disability Price Tag.