NHS badges

[boydy99]

I dont know if anyone else has seen this yet. My organisation is also public sector and pro Stonewall so wondering how long it is until we have a similar policy.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/aec64082-cbb4-11eb-b575-81b2a16c3be4?shareToken=203864c87d5e4519397c8dea43d8a407

Thanks for video clip. It always comes down to money and how much we can make by forcing people to virtue signal.

They're supposed to be completely impartial. What on earth is a flu champion, anyway?

"I can't tell if the people wearing them are really LGB-friendly or whether they're wearing them because they're a bit homophobic and feel a bit guilty about it, so decide to take the pledge so no one suspects" as Shedbuilder says.

People wearing these lanyards actually make it more difficult for patients, visitors or other staff to complain about homophobia because 'they can't be homophobic, they're wearing a rainbow lanyard'.

They're NHS healthcare workers, they're supposed to treat everyone equally, without favour.

Exactly.

How I loathe the term 'ally'.

And that term definitely says 'Hi! I've been politically captured! fgs don't risk saying anything about needing sex based rights or expect to be an unfettered homosexual near me or you risk being charged with a hate crime. Have a lovely day!'

If you look at the lanyards, you'll see some staff have lots of badges pinned on - Pride network, Purple network, BAME network, freedom to speak up champion, flu champion, etc. This isn't anything new

Genuinely, what is the point? I'd like to assume that all NHS workers support everyone. Are you saying that staff not wearing badge bedecked lanyards are out and proud bigots? If they are then they shouldn't be working for the NHS. If they are not what is the point in divisive lanyards?

TabithaTiger They do!

Like hell they do and singling out one or other 'special' group and elevating their status above all others which is what this does excludes other groups, it's empty, vanity halo polishing, virtue signalling the total opposite of well meaning and has no place in an organisation that should treat everybody who uses it equally and with respect and dignity.

Furthermore sexuality and gender are NOT protected characteristics so why are people being asked about them, what purpose does that serve?

The NHS has one job - to serve the public that pays for it, it does not have a remit to jump on the latest political bandwagon and use tax payer money to do so.

@RedDogsBeg

TabithaTiger They do!

Like hell they do and singling out one or other 'special' group and elevating their status above all others which is what this does excludes other groups, it's empty, vanity halo polishing, virtue signalling the total opposite of well meaning and has no place in an organisation that should treat everybody who uses it equally and with respect and dignity.

Furthermore sexuality and gender are NOT protected characteristics so why are people being asked about them, what purpose does that serve?

The NHS has one job - to serve the public that pays for it, it does not have a remit to jump on the latest political bandwagon and use tax payer money to do so.

Well said 👏

@RedDogsBeg

TabithaTiger They do!

Like hell they do and singling out one or other 'special' group and elevating their status above all others which is what this does excludes other groups, it's empty, vanity halo polishing, virtue signalling the total opposite of well meaning and has no place in an organisation that should treat everybody who uses it equally and with respect and dignity.

Furthermore sexuality and gender are NOT protected characteristics so why are people being asked about them, what purpose does that serve?

The NHS has one job - to serve the public that pays for it, it does not have a remit to jump on the latest political bandwagon and use tax payer money to do so.

Sexual orientation is a protected characteristic.

Sadly I'm not gay or transgender so I expect i'll get the usual snotty, brusque treatment when I attend appointments.
Brilliant.

I work in NHS Scotland and werenever asked to wear any special type of lanyard, I wear a rainbow one because I support the LGBTQ+ cause and I like the colours

Sorry, we were never asked to wear any special lanyard

“take the pledge” - sounds like the Hitler Youth

@Nonmaquillee

“take the pledge” - sounds like the Hitler Youth

For me, it sounds like Catch-22 and the Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade.

“The important thing is to keep them pledging,' he explained to his cohorts. 'It doesn't matter whether they mean it or not. That's why they make little kids pledge allegiance even before they know what "pledge" and "allegiance" mean.' To Captain Piltchard and Captain Wren, the Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade was a glorious pain in the ass, since it complicated their task of organizing the crews for each combat mission. Men were tied up all over the squadron signing, pledging and singing, and the missions took hours longer to get under way. Effective emergency action became impossible, but Captain Piltchard and Captain Wren were both too timid to raise any outcry against Captain Black, who scrupulously enforced each day the doctrine of 'Continual Reaffirmation' that he had originated, a doctrine designed to trap all those men who had become disloyal since the last time they had signed a loyalty oath the day before. It was Captain Black who came with advice to Captain Piltchard and Captain Wren as they pitched about in their bewildering predicament. He came with a delegation and advised them bluntly to make each man sign a loyalty oath before allowing him to fly on a combat mission.

However, pledging and signing up to something is a very effective social psychology technique - as ever, it's unfortunate when it's employed in questionable ways. However, many people are so confident in their moral compass that it never occurs to them to consider the inappropriate use of such phenomena. (I'm thinking of the young lawyer who contacted Sarah Phillmore in re: the obligations of being an ally and champion.)

Not sure why my message was deleted. I said that this scheme seemed to go further than the one in England, especially in reporting aspect and said it was inappropriate to include "intersex", and the NHS should know better than to include medical conditions.

Perhaps it was the scenario I invented in which asked what staff would be expected to do with an elderly patient who potentially "misgenders" someone?

Sexual orientation is a protected characteristic.

Correct, not sexuality as you previously stated.

The protected characteristics are really simple and easy to get right I can't fathom why organisations such as the NHS seem to have so much difficulty doing so, couldn't be that they are parroting a certain organisations law as they would like it to be, could it?

@Nonmaquillee

“take the pledge” - sounds like the Hitler Youth

It really does.

I think I love Jo March, who comments on this Times article. I often see her comments on articles, and think she is so eloquent.

@Jux

I think I love Jo March, who comments on this Times article. I often see her comments on articles, and think she is so eloquent.

Yes!

And Gail Dines is likewise so fluent and clear that I'm quite emotional about it.

It feels like a very long time ago that I was anywhere near so nimble-minded or at ease when speaking.

@TheLovleyChebbyMcGee

I work in NHS Scotland and werenever asked to wear any special type of lanyard, I wear a rainbow one because I support the LGBTQ+ cause and I like the colours

What LGBTQ+ cause, specifically?

The one which denies any relevance of sex?

forwomen.scot/13/06/2021/nhs-scotland-pride-badge/?fbclid=IwAR3KQbQlYUqGO4s7XaCbfwxXPyGtxrsz0Cbdk_0hgqQs007zIfmLbUJK3Fw

I won't wear any political symbol at work apart from the NHS logo itself which I guess could be argued has political significance. I've never been asked to and I wouldn't expect to be asked. I have colleagues who do wear them. We're not really supposed to wear lanyards and badges because of infection control, though people do (flu jab badges are pretty rife). I do think this might be being overstated. There was a statement in the story that there shouldn't be any record of those who don't choose to wear them.

[quote GromblesOfGrimbledon]forwomen.scot/13/06/2021/nhs-scotland-pride-badge/?fbclid=IwAR3KQbQlYUqGO4s7XaCbfwxXPyGtxrsz0Cbdk_0hgqQs007zIfmLbUJK3Fw[/quote]
I've gone through the support documents. Given that people who wear the badge are supposed to understand the background and issues - how is that possible when the document authors don't cite the sources for a number of those very dubious statistics?

What sort of HCPs are trusting those numbers? They don't even have face validity…

Genuinely, if everyone had to read and understand the documents before signing the pledge, what on earth was passing for the thought process or scrutiny?

Almost half of trans people (46 per cent) have tried taking their own life in the last year, 31 per cent of LGB people who aren’t trans said the same.

What the YouGov survey for Stonewall actually said (and I have to believe this was an honest error by whomever put together those numbers for that material):

That's right - thought, not attempted. And, there are reasons to do with the scant details of the methodology as to why that is not as startling as it seems.

I am very angry that nobody challenged this even on its face validity.