Joint statement: NHS 'single sex' guidance

We have worked with healthcare policy colleagues at TransActual to respond jointly to new NHS England guidance issued today which has implications on trans people accessing healthcare.

We are taking time to consider the new guidance in depth so we can understand all of the likely impacts on trans patients as well as on healthcare systems. We will share our detailed analysis as soon as possible.

Our initial joint response to media regarding the guidance has been to say:

“This NHS guidance emphasises clinical judgement as the priority over blanket exclusion, but leaves individual healthcare professionals unclear on how to safely look after trans patients. Forcing trans people into spaces based on our sex assigned at birth will never be the most clinically appropriate decision, and will push trans people away from accessing care.

“Doctors and nurses need to be able to prioritise looking after the person in front of them, not juggling scarce side rooms and writing breach reports to keep trans people safe.

“This guidance will not survive contact with reality in resource-strapped hospitals and will create unworkable operational challenges. The government failing to get a grip of this legal mess is sadly putting politics over patient care.”

We know this news is going to be unnerving for trans people seeking to access healthcare, and the reality is that it will make the environment worse for all of us. There is likely to be significant variation in how this is interpreted, but we urge people not to put off accessing essential healthcare because of it. We will share more once we have finished analysing the guidance.