Joint statement from TransActual and Trans+ Solidarity Alliance
NHS England’s new ‘single sex’ hospital wards policy risks relegating trans people in England to wards that do not align with our gender, causing harm, distress and increased clinical risk for trans patients.
The new guidance instructs hospitals that wherever services or facilities (like toilets and showers) are provided on a single sex basis, they should be provided on the basis of “biological sex”, with trans patients accommodated either on wards that reflect our sex assigned at birth or in side rooms where these are available. It also instructs hospitals to record and report any situations where this guidance is breached.
However, trans patients can still be accommodated on wards that align with our gender on the basis of “clinical need”, and there remain many areas of hospital care that are not segregated on the basis of sex (for example intensive care, and high dependency care).
It is unclear how this guidance will be implemented in practice, but in addition to forcing vulnerable trans patients into inappropriate and unsafe spaces, it risks outing and humiliating trans patients who already tend to avoid seeking necessary medical care due our fear of medical discrimination. It will also undermine patient/clinician relationships by turning healthcare staff into the gender police.
Forcing trans patients into the wrong wards is unnecessary and unsafe – this is a policy that places politics above patient care. It fundamentally undermines our rights as trans patients as well as the principles set out in the NHS Constitution.
We urge NHS trusts and ICBs to ensure that any changes to local policy and practice centre patient needs and clinical standards first and foremost. Remember your constitutional duty to each and every NHS patient, your commitment to inclusion, and your values.
For the trans people reading this: you are entitled to the same standards of NHS care as any other patient. Talk to your doctor and/or nurse about any fears you have around hospital admission, and how the right decision about your ward placement will result in better health outcomes for you. Please do not delay seeking the healthcare you need.
NHS England also published guidance around facilities for staff – we will review both documents in depth and publish detailed analysis soon.