Single-sex wards could be closed to trans patients

TRANS people could be banned from single-sex hospital wards if the reasons are ‘justifiable’.

Scottish health board chiefs confirmed yesterday that they were ‘carefully considering’ new advice on the issue from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Justifiable reasons include ‘privacy, decency, to prevent trauma or to ensure health and safety’. Hospital wards and women’s prisons are among the key areas involved in the row over femaleonly spaces.

Highland, Ayrshire & Arran, Grampian, Tayside, Borders and Greater Glasgow and Clyde health boards all confirmed that they were considering the EHRC guidance.

Susan Smith, co-founder of campaign group For Women Scotland, said boards now need to ‘urgently revise policies which have prioritised the feelings of men who identify as women over the safety and dignity of female patients’.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: ‘We support the appropriate use of the single or separate sex exceptions by service providers, where it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.’