Underlying Health Condition (UHC) is a collective movement for change in the UK television industry, founded by Jack Thorne,

Genevieve Barr Genevieve Barr (born 12 December 1985)Dehn, Georgia ', 24 June 2010, www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2010. is an English actor and writer of stage and screen. She played the lead role in the BBC award-winning series '' The Silence''. Havin ...

, Katie Player and Holly Lubran. They are collective of disabled and non-disabled on and off screen creatives & technical crew currently working within the television industry. They champion the

Social model of disability The social model of disability identifies systemic barriers, derogatory attitudes, and social exclusion (intentional or inadvertent), which make it difficult or impossible for disabled people to attain their valued functionings. The social mode ...

. In August 2021 Thorne announced the creation of the pressure group during his

MacTaggart Lecture The Edinburgh International Television Festival is an annual media event held in the United Kingdom each August which brings together delegates from the television and digital world to debate the major issues facing the industry. The Festival ...

at the Edinburgh International Television Festival. During the lecture, Thorne called television an "empathy box," but said that "TV has failed disabled people. Utterly and totally." In December 2021 on the United Nations' International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the collective published a report entitled 'Everybody Forgot About The Toilets', written in collaboration with the Creative Diversity Network, TripleC, the Disabled Artists Networking Community (DANC), Deaf and Disabled People in TV (DDPTV) and the 1in4 Coalition, gaining international coverage from screen industries globally. Underlying Health Condition surveyed 72 television studios and facilities providers across the UK over a period of 6 months. Only 45.85% of those contacted responded, and during the launch of 'Everybody Forgot About The Toilets,' UHC revealed their findings, including the discovery that there was only 1 fully accessible honeywagon available to hire in the whole of the UK as well as their recommendations for change, which include introducing a line in every High End Television (HETV) Budget for Reasonable Adjustments, the creation of a Disabled Freelancers Fund, training and hiring Accessibility Coordinators, and the creation of a Studios and Facilities Fund.

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

are the first major UK broadcaster to commit to issuing UHC's recommended 'industry-first' guidelines, and in March 2022 ScreenSkills announced they would be training 12 Accessibility Coordinators by the end of the year. UHC are part of the Coalition for Change, alongside the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

, Channel 4,

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

Sky UK Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...

, ViacomCBS, STV, Creative England,

The Film and Television Charity The Film and TV Charity, formerly the CTBF (Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund), is the leading UK charity for people who work in the film, cinema and television industries, whose careers cover all aspects of pre-production and beyond, from s ...

UKTV UKTV Media Limited, simply known as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through ...

, the

Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union The Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union (BECTU), formerly the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union, became a sector of the Prospect trade union in the United Kingdom on 1 January 2017 following th ...

(BECTU),

Directors UK Directors UK (previously DPRS) is the professional association for British directors working in the audiovisual sector, with over 4,500 members. The organisation is both a collective management organisation for the distribution of secondary rights ...

, WFTV Awards, Viva La PD, The TV Collective, The Unit List, PACT and Share My Telly Job. In August 2022, 9 of the UK's biggest broadcasters, the BBC, Channel 4,

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, Amazon Studios,

BritBox BritBox is an online digital video subscription service, founded by BBC Studios and ITV plc, operating in nine countries across North America, Europe, Australia and South Africa.

, ITV, Sky,

and

Disney + Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

, joined UHC, DANC, DDPTV, CDN and the

Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television The Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (Pact) is the UK trade association for independent content producers in feature film, television, animation, children's and digital media. Pact campaigns on issues of relevance to its members, inclu ...

in launching the TV Access Project at the Edinburgh International Television Festival. "The flagship cross-industry initiative," said Max Goldbart in

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...

, is "a blueprint to rid the sector of appalling accessibility problems," led by BBC Chief Content Officer Charlotte Moore. TAP makes clear that studios and facilities providers who meet their guidelines will be prioritised by the member broadcasters when considering new UK commissions.

References

{{reflist Disability rights Disability in the United Kingdom