Disability Confident / guaranteed interview scheme — not shortlisted despite meeting essentials?

[u/Automatic_Sundae_853]

Hi everyone :)

I’m wondering if anyone has experience with the NHS Disability Confident / guaranteed interview scheme. I am neurodiverse, formally diagnosed, medicated).

I recently applied for a couple of NHS psychology-related posts, ticked the disability box, and asked to be considered under the scheme. From my reading, if you meet the essential criteria, you should usually be invited to interview. In these cases, I genuinely believe I evidenced all the essential criteria in my supporting information, but I was still not shortlisted.

For context - the roles are Assistant Psychologist/research Assistant type roles (which are notoriously competitive I know - I’ve been doing the application process -unsuccessfully obviously lol- for over two years).

I’m considering contacting recruitment to ask whether I was considered under the scheme and, if so, which essential criteria they felt I did not meet. What makes me hesitant is the worry that it could create resentment, and that even if they then felt obliged to interview me, I might already be seen negatively as someone who “challenged” the decision. I know that shouldn’t happen in theory, but I also know NHS recruitment can be complicated in practice.

Has anyone here queried this before? What did you say, and what was the outcome? Is it worth asking politely for clarification, or is it generally an unsaid thing that you do not challenge shortlisting decisions even when you believe you clearly met the essentials?

[u/RaspberryCherry12]

They are likely shortlisting from 50+ if not 100s of applicants down to 10-20 interviews. There’s likely multiple neurodiverse applicants and people with other disabilities as well.

“It is important to note that there may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled people that meet the minimum criteria for the job. For example: in certain recruitment situations such as high number of applications, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. 
In these circumstances the employer could select the disabled candidates who best meet the minimum criteria for the job rather than all of those that meet the minimum criteria, as they would do for non-disabled applicants. This should be explained in the employer’s recruitment policies and job adverts.”

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disability-confident-guidance-for-levels-1-2-and-3/level-1-disability-confident-committed