If you need help understanding AF as a disability; and need employment protection or help with service provider etc. then the following may prove helpful. There is also a link to the Equality Commission guidelines and some useful sources of help. Always remember strict time limits apply.
Click equalityhumanrights.com/upl... for further ECHR guidance on qualifying as a disabled person. Summary below.
Equality Act 2010 Guidance Section A: The Definition
Main elements of the definition of disability
A1. The Act defines a disabled person as a person with a disability. A person has a disability for the purposes of the Act if he or she has a physical or mental impairment and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities (S6(1)).
A2. This means that, in general:
• the person must have an impairment that is either physical or
mental (see paragraphs A3 to A8);
• the impairment must have adverse effects which are substantial
(see Section B);
• the substantial adverse effects must be long-term (see Section C);
and
• the long-term substantial adverse effects must be effects on
normal day-to-day activities (see Section D). This definition is subject to the provisions in Schedule 1 (Sch1).
All of the factors above must be considered when determining whether a person is disabled.
Equality Act 2010 Guidance Meaning of ‘impairment’
A3. The definition requires that the effects which a person may experience must arise from a physical or mental impairment. The term mental or physical impairment should be given its ordinary meaning. It is not necessary for the cause of the impairment to be established, nor does the impairment have to be the result of an illness. In many cases, there will be no dispute whether a person has an impairment. Any disagreement is more likely to be about whether the effects of the impairment are sufficient to fall within the definition and in particular whether they are long-term. Even so, it may sometimes be necessary to decide whether a person has an impairment so as to be able to deal with the issues about its effects.
A4. Whether a person is disabled for the purposes of the Act is generally determined by reference to the effect that an impairment has on that person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. An exception to this is a person with severe disfigurement (see paragraph B24). It is not possible to provide an exhaustive list of conditions that qualify as impairments for the purposes of the Act. Any attempt to do so would inevitably become out of date as medical knowledge advanced.
A5. A disability can arise from a wide range of impairments which can be:
• sensory impairments, such as those affecting sight or hearing;
• impairments with fluctuating or recurring effects such as rheumatoid arthritis, myalgic encephalitis (ME), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia, depression and epilepsy;
• progressive, such as motor neurone disease, muscular dystrophy, and forms of dementia;
• auto-immune conditions such as systemic lupus erythematosis (SLE);
organ specific, including respiratory conditions, such as asthma, and cardiovascular diseases including thrombosis, stroke and heart disease;
Equality Act 2010 Guidance
• developmental, such as autistic spectrum disorders (ASD), dyslexia and dyspraxia;
• learning disabilities;
• mental health conditions with symptoms such as anxiety, low mood, panic attacks, phobias, or unshared perceptions; eating disorders; bipolar affective disorders; obsessive compulsive disorders; personality disorders; post traumatic stress disorder, and some self-harming behaviour;
• mental illnesses, such as depression and schizophrenia;
• produced by injury to the body, including to the brain.
A6. It may not always be possible, nor is it necessary, to categorise a condition as either a physical or a mental impairment. The underlying cause of the impairment may be hard to establish. There may be adverse effects which are both physical and mental in nature. Furthermore, effects of a mainly physical nature may stem from an underlying mental impairment, and vice versa.
A7. It is not necessary to consider how an impairment is caused, even if the cause is a consequence of a condition which is excluded. For example, liver disease as a result of alcohol dependency would count as an impairment, although an addiction to alcohol itself is expressly excluded from the scope of the definition of disability in the Act. What it is important to consider is the effect of an impairment, not its cause – provided that it is not an excluded condition. (See also paragraph A12 (exclusions from the definition).)
Equality Act 2010 Guidance A8. It is important to remember that not all impairments are readily identifiable. While some impairments, particularly visible ones, are easy to identify, there are many which are not so immediately obvious, for example some mental health conditions and learning disabilities.
Persons with HIV infection, cancer and
multiple sclerosis
A9. The Act states that a person who has cancer, HIV infection or multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disabled person. This means that the person is protected by the Act effectively from the point of diagnosis. (Sch1, Para 6). (See also paragraphs B18 to23 (progressive conditions).)
Equality Act 2010 Guidance Persons deemed to be disabled
A10. The Act provides for certain people to be deemed to meet the definition of disability without having to show that they have an impairment that has (or is likely to have) a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Regulations provide for a person who is certified as blind, severely sight impaired, sight impaired or partially sighted by a consultant ophthalmologist to be deemed to have a disability2. (Sch1, Para 7)
A11. Anyone who has an impairment which is not covered by paragraphs A9 and A10 will need to meet the requirements of the definition as set out in paragraph A1 in order to demonstrate that he or she has a disability under the Act. (But see paragraphs A16 to A17 for details of some people who are treated as having had a past disability.)
Equality Act 2010 Guidance People who have had a disability in the past
A16. The Act says that, except for the provisions in Part 12 (Transport5) and section 190 (improvements to let dwelling houses), the provisions of the Act also apply in relation to a person who previously has had a disability as defined in paragraphs A1 and A2 (S6(4) and Sch1, Para 9). This means that someone who is no longer disabled, but who met the requirements of the definition in the past, will still be covered by the Act. Also protected would be someone who continues to experience debilitating effects as a result of treatment for a past disability.
Organisations who might be able to help:
Disability Law Service. dls.org.uk/
Free Representation Unit. thefru.org.uk/
Bar Pro Bono Unit. barprobono.org.uk/
Disability Alliance. disabilityrightsuk.org/inde...
CAB Advice Guide. adviceguide.org.uk/
The Equality Commission. equalityhumanrights.com/
Resources from Central London Law Centre regarding employment londonlawcentre.org.uk/publ...
DSM solicitors dsmlegal.co.uk/
Disability organisations near you disabilityrightsuk.org/orga...
thinkability.co.uk click on topics, welfare or writings.
Good luck
Atrial Fibrillation Association.
Atrial Fibrillation Survey
Presistent atrial fibrilation
GA and atrial fibrillation 
PPI’s and atrial fibrillation 
