Transgender hospital guidance faces review
Health Secretary responds to criticism after revelation former male sex offenders could be on female units
Sajid Javid is to review guidance on transgender patients being admitted to single-sex wards in the wake of a Daily Telegraph investigation. The Health Secretary will take “fresh advice” on policies issued by NHS Trusts that included instructions that male sex offenders who self-identify as women can be placed on female only wards. Mr Javid said last night: “All patients, including women and transgender people, should feel comfortable and safe in hospital.”
‘If children are in hospital for treatment it is important that they feel as comfortable and relaxed as possible’
‘We have to stick to the principles of medicine and therapy and treatment because to disregard them would be reckless’
THE Health Secretary is to review guidance on transgender patients being admitted to single-sex wards in the wake of a Daily Telegraph investigation.
Sajid Javid is to take “fresh advice” on policies issued by NHS Trusts after this newspaper revealed that they included instructions that male sex offenders who self-identify as women can be placed on female-only wards.
Despite instructions from the Department of Health to eliminate mixed sex wards, guidance from hospitals across England states that patients should be admitted based on the gender they identify with and can choose which ward, lavatories and facilities they use.
Mr Javid said last night: “All patients, including women and transgender people, should feel comfortable and safe in hospital. It’s not wrong to look at whether guidance is right, or how it’s being applied, to reassure everyone.
“I’ve asked the Department of Health for fresh advice.”
NHS England has also told hospitals to allow children to self-identify, even if they are not deemed competent and their parents disagree.
Central guidance on single-sex accommodation states that children and young people should be accommodated “in accordance with the dress, preferred name and/or stated gender identity”.
They have told medics that some parents “have a view that is not consistent with the child’s view. If possible, the child’s preference should prevail even if the child is not Gillick competent”.
Gillick competence is a test in medical law to decide whether a child under the age of 16 is able to consent to their treatment without parental consent.
Last night, parents’ groups and medical staff questioned why the health service was overriding legal protections put in place to protect both patients and professionals.
The guidance, issued in 2019, states patients should be “accommodated according to their presentation: the way they dress, and the name and pronouns they currently use”.
Dr Jane Hamlin, president of the Beaumont Society, a trans support group, said: “If children are in hospital for treatment it is important that they feel as comfortable and relaxed as possible in the circumstances. “Why would anyone want to ignore the child’s wishes about their accommodation?
“It is important that the gender on the NHS record reflects how the person identifies to avoid embarrassing misunderstandings should a person have to see a GP who does not know them, or go into hospital.”
However, paediatrician Dr Julie Maxwell warned that patients on mental health wards, which were often split between sexes, were most likely to be left vulnerable by this situation.
“I wouldn’t agree with any situation where the wishes of the parents were ignored unless there were safeguarding concerns,” Dr Maxwell said.
Her comments were echoed by psychotherapist Stella O’malley, who founded Genspect, a parental support group for those concerned about the treatment their children are receiving for gender issues.
Ms O’malley said: “On what basis should Gillick competence be overridden? We have these well thought out legal principles which are put down to save us from ourselves in exactly this kind of clinical situation.
“There is a tendency to make an exception around gender dysphoria which is entirely inappropriate,” she added.
“We have to stick to the principles of medicine and therapy and treatment because to disregard them would be reckless and irresponsible, the rules have been made for a reason.
“This principle of capacity to consent keeps everybody safe.”
Dr Maxwell said changing the guidance was not the only thing the NHS had done “without thinking it through”.
She said that there had been a number of occasions when she had seen children who had their name and gender changed on their hospital medical records which could create problems with misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment.