Labour row over trans patients on NHS wards
A SENIOR Labour MP has come under attack from his own party for saying transgender patients should not stay in single-sex hospital wards.
Wes Streeting, the party’s health spokesman, said it ‘should not be beyond the realms of possibility’ for the NHS to have separate wards for men and women plus ‘suitable, safe’ accommodation for trans people.
He is understood to have meant that trans inpatients might prefer to stay in the modern, single- bed rooms that make up almost half of accommodation across trusts in England, rather than being put with people of their birth sex.
His comments were welcomed by women’s rights campaigners but sparked uproar among some who accused him of calling for segregation. It came as Sir Keir Starmer was telling an LgBT+ Labour event that his party would introduce a ‘trans inclusive’ ban on conversion therapy.
This means it would outlaw attempts to ‘cure’ someone of their gender identity as well as change their sexuality.
But campaigners fear this will criminalise parents, teachers and doctors for merely talking to youngsters who question their gender.
Sir Keir said on Monday night: ‘We fully support the view that conversion therapy is psychologically damaging abuse.’ He also repeated Labour’s plan to toughen up sentencing guidelines for abuse and violence targeted at transgender people. The offences will be punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment.
‘We’ll strengthen the law, so every category of hate crime is treated as an aggravated offence,’ Sir Keir told the meeting, in remarks obtained by
Diva magazine. The row began when Mr Streeting was asked by Sky News on Monday night about its investigation into mental health patients being raped and sexually assaulted.
Mixed- sex wards have been banned in the NHS since 2010 but existing rules – currently under review – mean that anyone who identifies as the opposite sex can be placed in the ward of their choice.
Mr Streeting said: ‘There’s still tens of thousands of patients on mixed-sex wards.
‘And what did we get from the former health secretary at the Conservative Party conference? His big announcement was to say, “we’ve got a problem with trans people on female only wards”, but I don’t think we’ve seen anything in your report that says that’s the issue here.’
Pressed on whether a Labour government would increase funding to ensure single-sex wards, he replied: ‘This has got to be a priority as it concerns patient safety and it should not be beyond the realms of possibility to have wards for women, wards for men, and also suitable, safe accommodation for trans people.’
And asked if that meant trans patients should be put on wards according to their sex or gender, Mr Streeting said: ‘No, the best thing is to protect the dignity of trans people and also to maintain the integrity of single- sex spaces is to make sure we’ve got single-sex wards.’
But critic Alexis Chilvers, co-chair of Labour For Trans Rights, said: ‘He’s a transphobe and we don’t want him anywhere near us.’
Labour sources said Mr Streeting meant trans patients could be accommodated in the single-bed rooms that many hospitals now have. As many as 60,000 of the 130,000 beds across the NHS are now in single rooms.
‘Maintain integrity’
MOST people would agree that children should not be permitted to make decisions about their gender or irreversible medical treatments without parental consent.
Not, it seems, Sir Keir Starmer. In announcing that Labour will ban trans conversion therapy if it wins the election, he will effectively remove their involvement.
While it is a complex issue, he should realise there is little support for this.
By pursuing such a reckless proposal, he risks unleashing unintended consequences. Parents, doctors and others who suggest a confused child should wait before taking permanent, body-altering drugs or having surgery could be criminalised.
So the question is, which does he care more about: Bringing in a ban to appease radical trans campaigners – or the health and wellbeing of vulnerable young people?