Jump to content

Search the hub

Showing results for tags 'LGBTQI'.

More search options

  • Search By Tags

    Start to type the tag you want to use, then select from the list.

  • Search By Author

Content Type


Forums

  • All
    • Commissioning, service provision and innovation in health and care
    • Coronavirus (COVID-19)
    • Culture
    • Improving patient safety
    • Investigations, risk management and legal issues
    • Leadership for patient safety
    • Organisations linked to patient safety (UK and beyond)
    • Patient engagement
    • Patient safety in health and care
    • Patient Safety Learning
    • Professionalising patient safety
    • Research, data and insight
    • Miscellaneous

Categories

  • Commissioning, service provision and innovation in health and care
    • Commissioning and funding patient safety
    • Digital health and care service provision
    • Health records and plans
    • Innovation programmes in health and care
    • Climate change/sustainability
  • Coronavirus (COVID-19)
    • Blogs
    • Data, research and statistics
    • Frontline insights during the pandemic
    • Good practice and useful resources
    • Guidance
    • Mental health
    • Exit strategies
    • Patient recovery
    • Questions around Government governance
  • Culture
    • Bullying and fear
    • Good practice
    • Occupational health and safety
    • Safety culture programmes
    • Second victim
    • Speak Up Guardians
    • Staff safety
    • Whistle blowing
  • Improving patient safety
    • Clinical governance and audits
    • Design for safety
    • Disasters averted/near misses
    • Equipment and facilities
    • Error traps
    • Health inequalities
    • Human factors (improving human performance in care delivery)
    • Improving systems of care
    • Implementation of improvements
    • International development and humanitarian
    • Patient Safety Alerts
    • Safety stories
    • Stories from the front line
    • Workforce and resources
  • Investigations, risk management and legal issues
    • Investigations and complaints
    • Risk management and legal issues
  • Leadership for patient safety
    • Business case for patient safety
    • Boards
    • Clinical leadership
    • Exec teams
    • Inquiries
    • International reports
    • National/Governmental
    • Patient Safety Commissioner
    • Quality and safety reports
    • Techniques
    • Other
  • Organisations linked to patient safety (UK and beyond)
    • Government and ALB direction and guidance
    • International patient safety
    • Regulators and their regulations
  • Patient engagement
    • Consent and privacy
    • Harmed care patient pathways/post-incident pathways
    • How to engage for patient safety
    • Keeping patients safe
    • Patient-centred care
    • Patient Safety Partners
    • Patient stories
  • Patient safety in health and care
    • Care settings
    • Conditions
    • Diagnosis
    • High risk areas
    • Learning disabilities
    • Medication
    • Mental health
    • Men's health
    • Patient management
    • Social care
    • Transitions of care
    • Women's health
  • Patient Safety Learning
    • Patient Safety Learning campaigns
    • Patient Safety Learning documents
    • Patient Safety Standards
    • 2-minute Tuesdays
    • Patient Safety Learning Annual Conference 2019
    • Patient Safety Learning Annual Conference 2018
    • Patient Safety Learning Awards 2019
    • Patient Safety Learning Interviews
    • Patient Safety Learning webinars
  • Professionalising patient safety
    • Accreditation for patient safety
    • Competency framework
    • Medical students
    • Patient safety standards
    • Training & education
  • Research, data and insight
    • Data and insight
    • Research
  • Miscellaneous

News

  • News

Find results in...

Find results that contain...


Date Created

  • Start
    End

Last updated

  • Start
    End

Filter by number of...

Joined

  • Start

    End

Group

First name

Last name

Country

About me

Organisation

Role

Found 66 results
  1. News Article
    The federal health department released what it described as a “comprehensive review” of pediatric gender dysphoria – advocating for therapy instead of medical care for youth whose gender identity does not match their assigned sex. The 409-page report claimed that while the harms of such medical treatment are “sparse”, medical treatment should be avoided in favor of therapy for youth diagnosed with gender dysphoria. “Our duty is to protect our nation’s children – not expose them to unproven and irreversible medical interventions,” said Dr Jay Bhattacharya, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) director. “We must follow the gold standard of science, not activist agendas.” The report contradicts the guidance of America’s largest medical associations, including the American Medical Association, which urged state governments to “stop interfering in the healthcare of transgender children”. A study published this year found gender-affirming care is rare among US youth, with fewer than one in 1,000 children receiving hormones or puberty blockers. The review is in response to one of the first executive orders signed by the president, titled: “Protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation,” which called for a review of evidence by the health department within 90 days. “Evidence for harms associated with paediatric medical transition in systematic reviews is … sparse, but this finding should be interpreted with caution,” the report states. “Inadequate harm detection in paediatric gender medicine may reflect the relatively short period of time since the widespread adoption of the medical/surgical treatment model; the failure of existing studies to systematically track and report harms; and publication bias.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 1 May 2025
  2. Content Article
    More information about "Patient safety implications of the Supreme Court ruling on biological sex: A blog from Laura Evans"
    In this blog, Laura Evans discusses the impact the recent UK Supreme Court judgment on the meaning of ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 may have on access to health and care services for transgender people. Last month, the UK Supreme Court ruled in the For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers case that the protected characteristic of ‘sex’ under the Equality Act 2010 relates to biological sex. This judgment, followed recently by an update from the Equality and Human Rights Commission on its practical implications, will impact many different organisations in the UK.[2] This includes healthcare providers, where the judgment comes with numerous potential patient safety risks for transgender people. Transgender people already encounter various barriers to accessing health and care, including long waits to access NHS gender dysphoria services, lack of training in transgender health, and discrimination.[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] There are also emerging concerns, now the subject of research, on how the algorithms used to assess disease risk and to help make decisions on treatment fail to take transgender patients into account, reinforcing health inequalities.[8] There are very practical and, somewhat ironically, biological issues to consider when looking at the potential impact of this ruling. Transgender people who have not undergone full gender reassignment surgery will still have sex organs and genitalia of the sex they were assigned at birth. In the case of trans men, this may mean they continue to require gynaecological and reproductive healthcare despite identifying and presenting as male.[9] Trans men can develop gynaecological cancers or medical conditions and trans women can develop testicular or other cancers.[10] Even where transgender people have undergone surgery, the clitoris and prostate are generally retained therefore trans men could develop vaginal or vulval cancers and trans women could develop prostate cancer.[11] Preventing discrimination Under the Equality Act 2010, people with the protected characteristic ‘gender reassignment’ are protected from discrimination, harassment and victimisation on the grounds of this characteristic when accessing services and public functions, such as medical services, buildings and premises, including onsite facilities like toilets and changing rooms. Public sector providers like the NHS are additionally under the Public Sector Equality Duty to: Eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation. Advance equality of opportunity between people with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment and those who do not. Foster good relations between groups who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. It is difficult to see how public sector providers will be able to meet the Public Sector Equality Duty if they refuse transgender people access to services in the gender with which they identify. There are also implications under data protection legislation. Under the UK General Data Protection Regulations (UKGDPR) 2018, health, genetic and biological data, where it is used for identification purposes, are all 'special category' data forms subject to enhanced protections. Access to services In light of the judgment, NHS England has stated that it is now reviewing its guidance on same sex accommodation because previous guidance advised that transgender patients should be accommodated according to their gender identity.[12] We know the health service remains heavily under pressure and is often at its capacity limits, as highlighted by the ongoing normalisation of arrangements such as corridor care in hospitals across the country.[13] [14] The practical impact of potentially having to provide entirely separate facilities for transgender patients to ensure they can access specific services is hard to judge at this stage. However, it would seem highly likely that this may have unintended consequences of delaying access to care and treatment for these patients, resulting in avoidable harm. Conclusion Overall, the climate of misunderstanding, exclusion and fear that has followed the judgment is likely to leave intersex, transgender and non-binary people afraid to access health services altogether. This would lead to worsening health outcomes as illness may be diagnosed too late. Fear and shame, and the inability to live freely as yourself, are all known triggers for mental ill health and suicidal thoughts, leading to increased need across mental health services that are already stretched with long waiting lists. References For Women Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, UKSC 16 [2025] (On appeal from CSIH 37 [2023]), 16 April 2025. Equality and Human Rights Commission. An interim update on the practical implications of the UK Supreme Court Judgement, 25 April 2025. Mikulak M, Ryan S, Ma R, et al, Health professionals’ identified barriers to trans health care: a qualitative interview study, Br J Gen Pract 2021; 71 (713): e941-e947. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.01792021. Safer JD, Coleman E, Feldman J et al. Barriers to Health Care for Transgender Individuals. Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes 2016; 1; 23(2):168-71. Murry R. Acting on the evidence; ensuring the NHS meets the needs of trans people. The King's Fund 26 September 2022. London Assembly. Trans health matters: improving access to healthcare for trans and gender-diverse Londoners, February 2022. BBC News. Life on a NHS transgender waiting list, 20 March 2024. The Guardian. NHS treatment algorithms ‘not taking transgender patients into account’, 5 May 2023. Sbragia JD, Vottero B. Experiences of transgender men in seeking gynaecological and reproductive health care: a qualitative systematic review. JBI Evidence Synthesis. 18(9):p 1870-1931, September 2020. de Nie I, Wiepjes CM. de Blok CJM, et al, Incidence of testicular cancer in trans women using gender-affirming hormonal treatment: a nationwide cohort study. BJU International, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1111/bju.15575 Bertoncelli Tanaka M, Sahota K, Burn J, et al, Prostate cancer in transgender women: what does a urologist need to know? BJU International 2022; 129: 113-22. BBC News. NHS will be pursued if gender policies don’t change, equalities watchdog says, 17 April 2025. Royal College of Nursing. On the frontline of the UK’s corridor care crisis, 16 January 2025. Patient Safety Learning. Response to RCN report: on the frontline of the UK’s corridor care crisis, 17 January 2025.
  3. News Article
    Resident doctors have criticised a recent Supreme Court ruling on gender, calling it scientifically unfounded and harmful to transgender and gender-diverse people. Medics at the British Medical Association’s (BMA) resident doctors conference in London passed a motion which states that “attempting to impose a rigid binary has no basis in science or medicine”. The court declared that the words “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act refer to a biological woman and biological sex. The Department of Health and Social Care said on Tuesday that “following the Supreme Court ruling, it is clear healthcare should be based on biology”. However, the union’s resident doctors conference passed a motion which states: “This meeting condemns the Supreme Court ruling defining the term ‘woman’.” The motion adds: “We recognise as doctors that sex and gender are complex and multifaceted aspects of the human condition and attempting to impose a rigid binary has no basis in science or medicine while being actively harmful to transgender and gender-diverse people.” Read full story Source: Medscape, 29 April 2025
  4. News Article
    Last week, judges at the UK's highest court unanimously ruled that the definition of a "woman" and "sex" in the Equality Act 2010 refers to "a biological woman and biological sex". Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chair of the UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), said the ruling was "enormously consequential" and ensured clarity. She vowed to pursue organisations that do not update their policies, saying they should be "taking care" to look at the "very readable judgment". On single-sex hospital wards, Baroness Falkner told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the NHS will "have to change" their 2019 policy, which says transgender patients are entitled to be accommodated on single-sex wards matching how they identify. She said the court ruling means there is now "no confusion" and the NHS "can start to implement the new legal reasoning and produce their exceptions forthwith". Keir Starmer says last week's Supreme Court decision - which prompted impassioned protests by trans rights activists at the weekend - has given "much needed clarity" to women and service providers. Read full story Source: Sky News, 22 April 2025
  5. News Article
    Aryn Kavanaugh was sitting in her living room in South Carolina when her 17-year-old daughter came into the room and said: “I’m really scared. I think people are gonna die.” Katherine, who is using her middle name for her protection, told Kavanaugh that she thought transgender youth may be the target of violence due to the hate generated by Donald Trump’s recent action. On 28 January, Trump issued an executive order to ban access to gender-affirming care for youth under 19 years old. It directed federal agencies to deny funding to institutions that offer gender-affirming medical care including hormones and puberty blockers. “She just felt like the world was crumbling around her. So we talked it out and tried to stay super positive,” said Kavanaugh, a parent of two trans children. “I think she really feels like we’re on the edge of chaos.” In a victory for trans kids and their families, a federal judge in Maryland blocked the ban on 4 March. The preliminary injunction extended a mid-February restraining order that blocked Trump’s directive and will remain in effect until further order from the US district court for the district of Maryland. In the meantime, the order prohibits the government from withholding federal funding to healthcare facilities that provide treatment to trans youth. Still, the executive order sent parents, children and medical providers into a tailspin as they deciphered its impacts. Some hospitals immediately cancelled appointments and turned away new patients to adhere to the directive.. Some parents say that their children’s mental health severely declined in the weeks following the executive order. And as a result, families have gone to great lengths to ensure that their trans kids continue to receive care, including considering moving abroad or stocking up on puberty suppressants. “We have seen dozens of families affected across the United States, in many, many states that have been left and abandoned without care that they need,” said Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, senior counsel and healthcare strategist at the LGBTQ+ civil rights organization Lambda Legal. “This is an unlawful executive order because it seeks to override the congressional mandate to condition federal financial assistance on non-discrimination, and this order seeks to require discrimination as a condition of federal funding.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 12 March 2025
  6. News Article
    Panic buttons, security cameras and active-shooter drills: Those are some of the ways doctors who treat transgender children have armed themselves when facing violent threats over the years. Now, they’re warning the president’s actions could make things more dangerous. Even before President Donald Trump attempted to ban gender transition care nationwide for young people, protesters routinely demonstrated outside clinics that treat trans youths. Some carried signs with violent messages and the names of doctors who treat trans children. One entered a Seattle clinic with a weapon, according to court records. Now doctors say threats of violence are rising — along with fears of legal action — in the wake of Trump’s Jan. 28 executive order that labeled gender transition care for minors a “dangerous trend” and “a stain on our Nation’s history.” Dozens of providers gave sworn affidavits as part of a lawsuit four states filed challenging the legality of Trump’s executive order. Providers in those Democratic-led states remain so afraid, many agreed to file affidavits challenging the order only if they could do so anonymously. Washington’s state attorney general led the legal effort. “I am scared, not just for myself, but for my family,” one Seattle-based physician and professor wrote in court documents. “It is a terrifying time to be a doctor providing gender-affirming care.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: Washington Post, 9 March 2025
  7. News Article
    A nurse is taking legal action against a Scottish health board after she was suspended for complaining about sharing a changing room with a transgender colleague. Sandie Peggie, a nurse at NHS Fife, has claimed she was subjected to unlawful harassment under the Equality Act 2010 by being made to share a changing room with Dr Beth Upton, who is a transgender woman. At the time of the incidents, Ms Peggie, a nurse, and Dr Upton, a medic, were both employed at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy and worked in the A&E department. According to Ms Peggie, in late August 2023, she entered a changing room in the A&E department and saw Dr Upton getting dressed, which made her feel embarrassed to get changed and led her to leave the room. Then, in late October or early November 2023, Ms Peggie was getting changed in the changing room, dressed in her bra and trousers, when Dr Upton came in. Again, the nurse said she felt embarrassed at changing in front of Dr Upton, so replaced her top and left the room. Ms Peggie said she then entered the changing room on 24 December 2023 to take care of a personal hygiene need and ended up being left alone with Dr Upton after two members of staff left. Following the third incident, Dr Upton refused to leave the changing room and later made a complaint of bullying against Ms Peggie. On 30 December 2023, NHS Fife placed Ms Peggie on special leave and then, on 4 January 2024, the health board suspended her. At the time the incident took place, it was NHS policy to allow transgender people to use the changing rooms that align with their gender identity. This is not the first time nurses have threatened legal action in an NHS changing room row. Read full story (paywalled) Source: Nursing Times, 20 February 2025
  8. News Article
    The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will define sex as an "immutable biological classification" and only recognise two sexes, male and female, according to guidance issued this week. The guidance builds on President Donald Trump's executive order that instructed the federal government to officially recognize only a person's sex at birth and to stop recognizing the concept of gender identity. The HHS released the guidance to the U.S. government, external partners and the public. "The guidance recognizes there are only two sexes: male and female. HHS will use these definitions and promote policies acknowledging that women are biologically female and men are biologically male," officials said Wednesday in a press release issued by HHS. RFK Jr. assumed his role as HHS secretary last week, and the guidance marks one of his first policy moves. “This administration is bringing back common sense and restoring biological truth to the federal government,” RFK Jr. said in a statement. "The prior administration’s policy of trying to engineer gender ideology into every aspect of public life is over.” The American Academy of Pediatrics is one medical organization that recognizes not everyone fits into the narrow definitions of male or female. In a fact sheet released this month, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine wrote that legislation and proposals "to define sex into two easily determined categories are unsupported by science and oversimplify the intricate nature of human biology." "It is crucial to understand that biological sex is determined by biology, not politics," ASRM wrote. Major medical groups also support gender-affirming care for transgender individuals, which is comprised of a range of social, behavioral and medical interventions, the latter of which include puberty-blocking medications, hormone treatments and, in rarer cases, surgical procedures. Read full story Source: Fierce Healthcare, 19 February 2025
  9. Content Article
    The Trump administration removed pages relating to LGBTQ issues, HIV information, racial disparities and more, but you can still find them on the Wayback Machine.
  10. News Article
    The Trump administration has directed the nation’s premier health agencies to place a notice harshly condemning “gender ideology” on agency webpages that a federal judge ordered be restored online this week. Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration were asked to place a notice on “any restored pages that were taken down due to their content promoting gender ideology,” according to an email sent from an official at the Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday evening. The Washington Post obtained a copy of the email. As of Friday morning, the notice is included on the two webpages the FDA was directed to restore, which provide guidance for researchers on how to increase enrollment of females in clinical trials and interpret sex-specific data, as well as improving participation of underrepresented populations in such trials. “Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate and disconnected from the immutable biological reality that there are two sexes, male and female,” the notice reads. “The Trump Administration rejects gender ideology and condemns the harms it causes to children, by promoting their chemical and surgical mutilation, and to women, by depriving them of their dignity, safety, well-being, and opportunities. This page does not reflect biological reality and therefore the Administration and this Department reject it.” Read full story (paywall) Source: The Washington Post, 14 February 2025
  11. News Article
    As Donald Trump seeks to block transgender youth healthcare across the country, California’s attorney general has sent a clear message to providers, reminding them of their duty to provide gender-affirming treatment under the state’s nondiscrimination laws. “The law requires [hospitals] to continue to provide gender-affirming care to our transgender community,” Rob Bonta, a Democrat who heads the California justice department, told the Guardian on Wednesday. “We will have the transgender community’s back. We will fight for their rights, for their protections, for their freedoms.” His comments come a week after Trump issued an executive order decreeing that medical institutions that receive federal funding and grants do not provide gender-affirming care, including hormone therapy and puberty blockers, to youth under age 19. In response, some hospitals have paused treatments, which are considered part of the standards of care for gender dysphoria endorsed by all major US medical associations. Trans patients, their families and civil rights groups have said the interruption of care could have dire consequences for patients’ physical and mental health. They’ve also argued that Trump’s order is unlawful, violating patients’ constitutional rights and parental rights, and that hospitals have no legal obligation to preemptively deny care, particularly while the policy is being challenged in court. On Tuesday, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), a major local provider, said it was pausing the initiation of hormone treatments for trans youth. The hospital told the LA Times it was not starting new patients’ gender-affirming care while it evaluated Trump’s order “to fully understand its implications”, but said treatment for existing patients would continue. On Wednesday, Bonta wrote a letter to CHLA warning that “withholding services from transgender individuals based on their gender identity or their diagnosis of gender dysphoria” would violate the state’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, a longstanding law that prohibits discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 5 February 2025
  12. News Article
    In the wake of Donald Trump’s executive order threatening to withhold federal funding from hospitals that offer gender-affirming care to individuals under the age of 19, several major hospitals across the US have stopped providing such treatments. The 28 January executive order directed federal departments and agencies to ensure that hospitals and medical institutions receiving federal research or education grants stop providing puberty blockers, hormone therapy or surgical procedures to transgender youth under the age of 19. “It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures,” the order reads. In response, several hospitals around the country have stopped providing gender-affirming care procedures for those under 19 while they evaluate and assess the order. A spokesperson for Denver Health in Colorado told the Associated Press that the hospital had stopped providing gender-affirming surgeries for individuals under the age of 19, to comply with the executive order and continue receiving federal funding. In a statement posted to its website, Denver Health said that it was “working to understand and comply with the full implications of the broadly worded order” and that “guidance on changes to medical care is being handled privately so that we can best support our patients and their families”. The Denver hospital said it was “deeply concerned for the health and safety of our gender diverse patients under the age of 19”. “We recognize this order will impact gender-diverse youth, including increased risk of depression, anxiety and suicidality,” the hospital stated. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 3 February 2025
  13. Content Article
    Matthew Zak Sheldrick (Matty) had struggled with their mental health throughout their adult life, but it wasn’t until 2019 that Matty was finally diagnosed with Autism. ADHD and Autistic Spectrum Disorder. However, they had never been sectioned under the Mental Health Act or had spent time as a voluntary patient in a mental health hospital.   Matty had moved to Brighton from Surrey in November 2021 having wanted to live independently. They were drawn to Brighton as they wished to be involved in the trans/non-binary community.   Matty’s mental health deteriorated during the summer of 2022 due to accommodation issues that they had been facing and issues with an online relationship. By 3rd September they were in crisis.  On 5 September 2022 Matty was admitted to A&E at the Royal County Hospital, Brighton. They remained within A&E, short stay ward, for 26 days awaiting a psychiatric bed. During this time no bed was found, and they were eventually discharged back home with support from the Crisis Home Treatment Team. Matty’s mental health had been affected by the unsuitability of the environment within A&E for someone awaiting an inpatient mental health bed.   Less than 5 weeks later Matty was again admitted to the A&E department at the Royal Sussex County Hospital on 3rd November 2022 in crisis. Their presentation fluctuated and this led to them being assessed under the Mental Health Act. However, they were not found to be detainable. They left the hospital shortly after the assessment and were sadly found hanging in the grounds of the hospital.  Matters of concern The lack of inpatient beds leading to the unacceptable wait time in A&E for those suffering with their mental health who are awaiting beds. In Matty’s case a bed was not found for them within a 26-day period. There being a shortage of beds for Autistic patients (both informal and detained) within the private sector that are being funded by the ICB. Evidence was heard that those providing beds within the public sector very often refused to accept autistic patients due to their additional risks. There being a shortage of beds for transgender patients who are in need of a mixed ward. In Matty’s case it appears there was a lack of appreciation by the ICB of his extensive length of stay in A&E. It appears that this information (and others who had lengthy stays) was not at that time being collected, monitored and acted on by the ICB. The unsuitability of the environment of A&E as a holding place for those in need of a mental health bed. The evidence was that the environment in A&E as a holding place is not conducive for those suffering with Autism and/or who are neurodiverse. The environment in A&E can exacerbate and cause further deterioration in their mental health. There is a gap in services for those who are not ill enough to be detained but who are too high risk to be sent home. There is a significant wait time for referral to the Assessment and Treatment Service. Therefore, any therapeutic input is delayed, and this results in repetitive attendances at A&E when in crisis. Current gaps in service around psychosocial support for transgender, non-binary and intersex adults have been provided by third party charitable organisations. It is understood that much of their funding has recently been withdrawn by the ICB. This is of particular concern as Brighton is recognised as having one of the largest trans communities in the Country.
  14. News Article
    Wes Streeting has been accused of causing “distress and uncertainty to trans people” and failing to provide clear information on the puberty blockers trial, which is understood to be starting soon. Puberty blockers were banned indefinitely in the UK for under-18s in December after the Cass Review found there was insufficient evidence to show they were safe. It recommended a clinical trial to determine the effectiveness and safety of the medication. It is understood the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) expects the trial to begin within the next few weeks and conclude in 2028. But NHS sources told The Independent they are not expecting to publish any details about the trial until February – just one month before it is set to begin – leaving young people wanting to access the medication guessing if they will be part of the trial. Trans charities and campaign groups have so far received little to no information on who will be able to participate in the trial, how they will access it and when it will start, with Stonewall urging the government to “provide certainty to an extremely vulnerable group”. Meanwhile, Tammy Hymas, head of communications and advocacy at charity Mermaids, told The Independent the “severe delays and complete absence of details” on the clinical trial has “left trans youth feeling abandoned”. Read full story Source: The Independent, 26 January 2025
  15. Content Article
    Health disparities are systemic and deeply rooted in social and economic inequities. Patients living in deprived areas, from racially minoritised communities, or facing additional challenges such as homelessness or intellectual disabilities experience worse health outcomes. These disparities are compounded by mistrust in healthcare, low health literacy, cultural barriers, and discrimination.  This report focuses on patients with blood disorders and/or cancers who experience health inequalities, and therefore have worse outcomes and experiences of care than patients who don’t. We looked at how social and economic factors affect the health of people living with blood disorders and cancer.  Report key findings: Patients living with cancer and/or blood disorders experience significant barriers to care including delays in diagnosis, unequal access to services, and systemic discrimination, These patients also reported challenges navigating healthcare, a lack of communication, and economic burdens such as high transportation and medication costs, Social determinants of health like inadequate housing and living in deprived areas further worsened outcomes, Participants emphasised mistrust in the healthcare system, particularly among racially minoritised and LGBTQ+ communities, and highlighted the need for better coordination, cultural sensitivity training, and localised services. The project involved a literature review on health disparities and social determinants affecting patients with cancer and blood disorders. Discussions were held with local and condition-specific charities, and we conducted focus groups and a case study interview with patients and carers. These efforts aimed to gather diverse perspectives and first-hand accounts of lived experiences.
  16. News Article
    A lack of psychiatric beds and a 26-day stay in an accident and emergency department were among issues which contributed to the death of a 29-year-old patient who took their own life, a coroner said. Matty Sheldrick took their life in the grounds of Brighton's Royal Sussex County Hospital in November 2022. Horsham's senior coroner, Penelope Schofield, found eight issues which contributed to their death at the inquest conclusion on Friday. James Ramsay, NHS Sussex's chief medical officer, said trusts in the region had been working together to improve the support and environment in which people were cared for when they were in crisis. Ms Schofield said private housing was not suitable for Matty's ongoing sensory issues and that an A&E department was "not a suitable environment for a neurodivergent individual". She said that Matty, a trans person, had been unable to access specialist advice and resources from the Transforming Care in Austism Team. The inquest previously heard Matty took their life after reaching out for "help that did not appear to exist". Matty's mother, Shelagh Sheldrick, previously said her child, who was autistic and had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), felt "dismissed, ignored and lied to" by mental health workers. Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 December 2024
  17. News Article
    Tackling increased discrimination faced by gay and trans staff must be a priority for the NHS if it wants to maximise workforce productivity, according to the CEO of one of the service’s largest providers. Mark Cubbon, CEO of Manchester University Foundation Trust and chair of the NHS Confederation’s LGBTQ+ leaders network, told HSJ there is an “awful lot more” to do to ensure the health service is more inclusive. A new survey by the network found that members had experienced higher rates of direct or indirect discrimination compared to the workforce as whole, while only 14% felt their organisation acted swiftly and appropriately to these incidents. A quarter of respondents said they had experienced homophobia while 20% reported encountering transphobia. Mr Cubbon said: “[Some people] ask the question about, ‘why are all these things important’, with the breadth of the agenda that we’re facing across the NHS. “As I’ve said, not only is it morally the right thing to do, there’s an imperative here for us all." “It’s really important for the individuals, morally the right thing to do, and it’s really important for the taxpayer so that we can get people to come to work. We employ more than a million people across the NHS, and we want people to be at their best when they come to work.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 5 December 2024
  18. News Article
    When the presidential election results were handed down on Wednesday, Rebecca Gomperts, the founder of Aid Access, the No 1 supplier of abortion pills by mail in the United States, was huddled in a Paris apartment with her team of eight American physicians and 15 support staff. The group – which usually operates remotely, shipping out more than 9,000 abortion pills a month – had convened in person before the election, knowing they might have to spring into action. They were right: as news of Trump’s victory spread, the website received more than 5,000 requests for abortion pills in less than 12 hours – a surge even larger than the day after Roe v Wade fell. “I can see all the new requests ticking in as we’re talking,” Gomperts said in a phone call on Wednesday afternoon. “We’ve never seen this before.” The scenario repeated itself across the country as news of Trump’s victory broke, with women’s and trans health providers getting inundated with requests for services that their patients feared might be banned in a Trump administration. The telehealth service Wisp saw a 300% increase in requests for emergency contraception; the abortion pill finder site Plan C saw a 625% increase in traffic. “Clearly, people are trying to plan for the reproductive apocalypse that we anticipate will be happening under a Trump presidency,” said Elisa Wells, the co-founder of Plan C. Dr Crystal Beal, meanwhile, was dealing with an influx of emails on Wednesday from trans patients concerned about their access to hormones and hormone-blocking therapy. Beal runs a site called QueerDoc, which provides estrogen, testosterone and hormone-blocking drugs. Trump is hostile to trans rights, vowing to punish doctors who provide gender-affirming care to minors, and Beal’s patients wanted to know how to protect themselves from a second Trump administration. By early on Wednesday afternoon, QueerDoc had already received more messages that day than it would in a typical week. “Some of it is ‘How can I safeguard my access to medication?’” Beal said. “Some of it is ‘Should I change [the gender on] my legal documents back so I’m safer? Should I stop taking medication so I’m safer?’” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 7 November 2024
  19. Content Article
    There is a well-established case for involving communities and people with lived experience in health and care policy, service design and delivery. NHS England guidance on working in partnership with communities highlights the financial benefits and improvements to quality and health outcomes that working with local communities brings. But could this involvement go further? In this article, Loreen Chikwira, Researcher at The King's Fund looks at the arguments for the use of intersectional approaches in understanding people’s lived experience of care in tackling ethnic health inequalities. These intersectional approaches help health and care providers shift their focus from people’s behaviours to also identifying and addressing ways of working that create and reinforce inequalities and poor experiences of care.
  20. Content Article
    In April 2023, National Voices held a workshop with members, supported by The Disrupt Foundation, on the unequal impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. It explored how communities and groups were affected differently by both the virus itself and the measures brought in to control it.   It painted a grim picture of the ways in which the pandemic response exacerbated existing, deep-rooted inequalities across the UK and compounded the disadvantages experienced by people from minoritised communities, by disabled people and by people living with long term conditions.  Just some examples include people who are immunocompromised, who were asked to go into isolation for huge periods of time and still feel completely overlooked as control measures have been lifted. Or the use of DNRs (Do Not Resuscitate orders) which were disproportionately applied to people with learning disabilities.  With the Covid-19 Inquiry underway, it is imperative that we capture the lessons learnt from the pandemic, and use them to suggest action for the future.
  21. News Article
    Transgender people may be banned from single-sex hospital wards under plans to restore "common sense" in the NHS, the health secretary says. Speaking at the Conservative party conference, Steve Barclay announced a consultation on strengthening the protections in place for women. NHS guidance issued in 2021 said trans people may be placed on wards according to the gender they identify as. The change would stop that with trans people given their own rooms and areas. But doctors have questioned whether there are the facilities available to achieve that. And the move would have to meet the legal threshold set by the Equality Act, which allows trans people to be excluded from single-sex spaces if there is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim, such as privacy or safety. Mr Barclay said he wanted to make sure the "dignity, safety and privacy" of all patients was respected, while the rights of women are protected. Read full story Source: BBC News, 3 October 2023
  22. News Article
    The family of a young trans woman who is believed to have taken her own life have said she was “failed by those tasked with her care”, as the coroner investigating her death described services for transgender people as “underfunded and insufficiently resourced”. Alice Litman had been waiting to receive gender-affirming healthcare for more than three years when she died in Brighton at the age of 20 in May 2022. Ahead of an inquest which began in Hove on Monday, her mother, Dr Caroline Litman, described Alice’s death as “preventable with access to the right support”. Adjourning the inquest on Wednesday to give a narrative conclusion in two weeks’ time, the coroner Sarah Clarke told the court: “It seems to me that all of these services are underfunded and insufficiently resourced for the level of need that the society we live in now presents". Describing the trans healthcare system as “not fit for purpose”, Alice's family, who are being supported by the Good Law Project, added: “We are grateful that the coroner has agreed that the conditions of Alice’s death warrant a report to prevent future deaths.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 20 September 2023
  23. News Article
    Vanderbilt University Medical Center is facing a federal civil rights investigation after turning the medical records of transgender patients over to Tennessee’s attorney general, hospital officials have confirmed. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ investigation comes just weeks after two patients sued VUMC for releasing their records to Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti late last year. “We have been contacted by and are working with the Office of Civil Rights,” spokesperson John Howser said in a statement late Thursday. “We have no further comment since this is an ongoing investigation.” VUMC has come under fire for waiting months before telling patients in June that their medical information was shared late last year, acting only after the existence of the requests emerged as evidence in another court case. The news sparked alarm for many families living in the ruby red state where GOP lawmakers have sought to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth and limit LGBTQ rights. The patients suing over the release of their information say VUMC should have removed personally identifying information before turning over the records because the hospital was aware of Tennessee authorities’ hostile attitude toward the rights of transgender people. Many of the patients who had their private medical information shared with Skrmetti’s office are state workers, or their adult children or spouses; others are on TennCare, the state’s Medicaid plan. Some were not even patients at VUMC’s clinic that provides transgender care. “The more we learn about the breadth of the deeply personal information that VUMC disclosed, the more horrified we are,” said attorney Tricia Herzfeld, who is representing the patients. “Our clients are encouraged that the federal government is looking into what happened here.” Read full story Source: NBC News, 10 August 2023
  24. News Article
    Bisexual people experience worse health outcomes than other adults in England, a study has found. Data from lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) patients indicates these groups have poorer health outcomes compared to those who identify as heterosexual. The new findings indicate that bisexual people face additional health disparities within an already marginalised community. Experts from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and Anglia Ruskin University who led the analysis of more than 835,000 adults in England, suggest the differences could result from unique prejudice and discrimination that can come from both mainstream society and LGBTQ+ communities. Read full story Source: The Independent, 25 July 2023
  25. Content Article
    When something goes wrong in health or care, patients need to understand their rights to complain and seek resolution. The Equality Advisory Support Service Helpline (EASS) supports individuals who wish to achieve an informal resolution when they feel they have experienced discrimination or want to understand their human rights. This article, written by the EASS for The Patients Association, explains an individual's rights under the Equality Act 2010 and what to do if you believe they’ve been violated.

© 2025 Patient Safety Learning. All rights reserved.

Patient Safety Learning is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission Registration number 1180689.

×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.