RCGP launches trailblazing LGBT e-learning suite for family doctors

[MoleSmokes]

Press Release from Royal College of General Practitioners

(Includes reference to our old friends "people with a cervix"!)

www.rcgp.org.uk/about-us/news/2020/january/rcgp-launches-trailblazing-lgbt-elearning-suite-for-family-doctors.aspx

Publication date: 16 January 2020

We want to ensure LGBT patients receive good, safe care, says Chair of RCGP as, together with the Government Equalities Office (GEO), we launch a suite of e-learning resources to support GPs to deliver the best possible care for LGBT patients.

The Royal College of GPs, in partnership with the Government Equalities Office (GEO) has launched a suite of e-learning resources to support GPs and other healthcare professionals to deliver the best possible care for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) patients.

The six new online learning modules, as well as podcasts and screencasts, aim to ensure users have access to evidence-based, up-to-date information to deal with the unique health needs LGBT patients may have.

The first-of-its-kind learning hub is designed to be accessible to busy GPs working under considerable time pressures with modules ranging from 15-30 minutes in length. The six modules are:

Inequality in healthcare provision - the current state of LGBT health: providing a current overview of LGBT health in the UK, identifying health inequalities and exploring how these could be improved.

Creating an inclusive primary care environment: exploring changes that can be made both in the GP surgery and during the GP-patient consultation to have a positive impact on LGBT patient outcomes.

Mental health and suicide prevention: highlighting health, wellbeing and service provision issues affecting LGBT patients and looking at how they can be addressed.

Screening issues in the LGBT population: exploring issues around screening in the LGBT community, specifically best practice for the cervical smear process in trans men and non-binary people with a cervix.

The older LGBT patient: exploring the unique health needs of older LGBT patients

Sexual and reproductive needs of the LGBT community: exploring sexual and reproductive health needs of LGBT patients, including advice for LGB women who wish to conceive and the use of pre and post exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV.

In 2017, there were an estimated 1.1 million people in the UK, aged 16 and over, who identified as LGB1. According to the latest National LGBT survey, the community can experience inequalities when accessing healthcare. To address this, the RCGP was commissioned by the GEO as one of 13 organisations to deliver the government's LGBT Action Plan.
Professor Martin Marshall, Chair of the RCGP, said: "GPs are highly-trained to deliver high-quality, non-judgemental care to all our patients. We want to ensure LGBT patients receive good, safe care, and that they can access our services when they need them.

"We hope that the new e-learning resources – based on the latest clinical evidence – will prove valuable in supporting frontline GPs and our teams to deliver the best possible care for every LGBT patient we see."

Baroness Williams, Minister for Equalities, said: "Everyone must be able to access appropriate healthcare and be treated with respect no matter their sexuality.
"It's great medical professionals now have access to these online modules, allowing this vital training to fit around their busy schedules, developing their delivery of LGBT inclusive healthcare." -
Sexual orientation, UK - Office for National Statistics

Further Information

Access the learning hub

RCGP Press office: 020 3188 7574/7575
Out of hours: 0203 188 7659
[email protected]

Notes to editor

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 53,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.

Well in the past few months, since the RCGP released their interestingly honest statement where they commented unequivocally on the startling paucity of evidence for current trans medicine, especially in children, it would appear this has occurred. If true, it’s genuinely alarming.

FFS. I dislike ‘LGBT’ more & more. People who are attracted to their own sex and people who believe that gender is more important than sex should not be bundled together.

Where is this LGBT Community ?

What are house prices like there?

This is what happens when you pander to woke people. This will create more waiting times

I’m sad that I feel so cynical. A few years ago, I would have seen this as genuinely positive. I can’t access it (not a member and you have to be a medic to sign up) and it might be generally good. But there are various modules and podcasts about “creating an inclusive environment” and it seems likely a great deal of that is concentrating on removal of the word women wherever possible.

That they would employ Dr Harrop, despite all the complaints to the GMC appals me. Assuming it’s true, of course. A search on the RCGP website came up blank.

Hasn’t Harrow just been given some sort of LGBT community engagement role by the RCGP.

If so I assume he could well have had a hand in this iniative.

Red flag, if there ever was one.

"Screening issues in the LGBT population: exploring issues around screening in the LGBT community, specifically best practice for the cervical smear process in trans men and non-binary people with a cervix."

That bit alone tells us they have lost their minds! A "non-binary person with a cervix" is an adult human female aka a woman.

I can understand that a transman might have a GRC and therefore be incorrectly recorded by the NHS as a biological male but why is there any possible reason to have a different screening process for a "non-binary" female? Choice of chaperone? Is the NHS (or GP Practices?) going to have to arrange for a "non-binary person with a cervix" to be available as a chaperone because a female does not "identity" as either a woman or a man? Would a "gender fluid" person do at a pinch?

Good job the NHS has loads of spare cash to chuck at important problems like this and GPs have so much spare time on their hands.

I want everyone to have good access to healthcare. I can easily believe there are issues making things harder for LGBT people. I see no problem with anything that makes this easier.

We shouldn’t jump to condemn this when we haven’t even read it. That would be homophobic and transphobic. I am not either of those things.

If having read it we see issues for women’s rights and erasure of women then we can complain.

@WorkingItOutAsIGo completely agree.

Do they have online resources for other groups?

WorkingItOut and Perfect

Agreed that, as a rule, we shouldn’t jump to condemn.

Agreed that healthcare should be tailored for the needs of different populations.

However there is a clear history of the NHS omitting key terms such as women, girls and female. The NHS do not deserve the benefit of the doubt unless they change their approach to this.

Using the phrase “non-binary people with a cervix." doesn’t bode well and shows MN posters are completely right to condemn.

Who the hell self identifies as a ’non binary person with a cervix?’ Who thinks that is acceptable?

As the great Janice Turner states - we are all non-binary. I don’t subscribe to corrosive female stereotypes. Therefore I am non-binary but I identify as female/woman.

I do wear makeup and heels - I didn’t today. Am I therefore a ‘semi / part time non-binary person with a cervix’?

Can this be included?

Health literacy and clear information is really important. For some reason this doesn’t happen to men and boys. I don’t suggest at all it should - It shouldn’t. So why is it ok not to use the words women and girls? We need tailored healthcare using these terms. This nonsense puts lives - mainly female lives - at risk.

Haven’t read the link to this joint document yet, but thanks for it and the thread.

see also link below on the Government Equalities Office’s work around health. they are the partner with RCGP in this work- would be interesting to know what that really means: partnering on expertise, money, active drafting help or just endorsement of what RCGP concluded, or what?

presumably these activities are connected with the GEO health work described in the link below?

If they are connected, then would seem a bit odd how this Government work doesn’t seem to be taking place at the typical expert health places you’d expect: like the Department of Health, given this seems to be about forming health policy and issuing direct advice for GPs ., or NICE (evidence based) or Public Health England and equivalent commissioning bodies for the other UK nations or with involvement local CCGs?

Does start to give the unfortunate view of this type of work being a more subjectively political project rather than one about objective health needs- the way it doesn’t seem to involve any other health bodies and, without any apparent link in to NHS commissioning which would secure the money to actually fund GPs to do whatever the recommended work is?

Yet if it’s equalities work, that would be absolutely fine if this also offered expertise regarding the interests of say, women and men (sex), LGB people (sexual orientation) on issues where there might be any conflicts of rights arising from these new trans health recommendations.

I’m sure that if there are any clashes of rights here... they will soon be publishing some carefully thought through and helpful documents that suggest funded proposals to mitigate any impact of these new recommendations on people’s other protected characteristics (aside from gender identity)... won’t they?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3535263-1st-Government-National-Adviser-for-LGBT-Health-appointed-and-a-panel