The NHS is captured and I can't see a way out

[Triotriotrio]

My local ambulance service have just posted up their Pride ambulances. The managers have also given anyone who wants them rainbow epaulettes (despite this being against the uniform policy). It is such a scandalous waste of money. One brave staff member queried if this was really what they should be investing in given it's political links etc and has basically been called a bigot.

It makes me so cross.

It was a female paramedic, an out and proud lesbian, of my acquaintance who first open my eyes to this whole <waves hands> shitstorm.

We were talking about clubbing on a night out (friend of a friend) and I learned from her that the previously gay/lesbian only club they used to frequent had become somewhere lesbians felt vulnerable due to the issues we now know as the cotton ceiling theory. She educated me on the SW definition of lesbian and the real life impacts of that.

It was that night and conversation that started me down my TERFy path. Up until then I had been unthinkingly sharing Stonewall SM posts, went wholly with "be kind" and probably had some rainbow merch about my person at work...I found myself wondering that if lesbians felt unsafe as a result of these things then who was I doing them for?

It feels a lifetime ago!

What must it be like to work for these organisations if you have these real feelings of vulnerability around the SW styling and know that what it stands for threatens your very sense of self?

Why are the NHS participating in it, both as a public service and an employer, it puts them in a difficult position of allegiance to a controversial political stance. Why get involved?

You are right. Why does everything they touch have to be so tacky? Rainbows on roads, on their faces, on flags etc etc Can't they respect anything? An ambulance is a serious thing. There could be someone dying in there, being used as a gaudy advert for Pride.

Can you imagine a relative in need of emergency treatment being picked up in that clown car? How does an organisation have the front to push its ideology onto people at their most vulnerable? The ambulances in my life have always been at the most heartbreaking and traumatic of times, that paint job whatever your feelings about pride is crass and brainless. I am hoping it is not actual functioning ambulance.

Phew. Glad to see it is not an emergency general use vehicle!

Good points.

This is a very pertinent point.

Makes me think of that Mitchell and Webb sketch with the soldiers examining their uniforms and realising the caps have skulls on, "Are we the baddies?"

People who would normally be the type to be against the police (or at least suspicious of them) should stop and think about why cop cars have rainbow flags on them!

NHS England fund the NHS Rainbow badge project, to the tune of £220k this financial year and £70k last fy.
This is behind the rainbow washing you see.

Do browse the FOI website WhatDoTheyKnow to find out more.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/costoffthenhssrainbowbadgee_pr

The Rainbow Badge project has the fingerprints of stonewall all over it, officially it is being administered by the LGBT Foundation but Stonewall is one of the partners. The scheme is the spawn of the Stonewall Diversity champions scheme, rainbow washed especially for the NHS.

This FOI response shows how the "benchmarking" is done.

Oh, and here are a few more comedy ambulances for you.

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/870748/response/2080857/attach/5/Induction%20pack.docx?cookie_passthrough=1

Sorry, I'm out of synch.

The managers of the Trust will be showing evidence of their LGBT friendly activities for when the box tickets come round, or they may use it when given an "inclusivity" question at a job interview.

How does the NHS make money? I always thought it was paid for by the Taxpayer??
I still don't like how they're wasting our money on the corrosion of women's rights, but I don't understand how they make money off of it

It's interesting because ambulances, like many basic services, treat all kinds of people who are problematic all the time. Drug addicts, criminals, people who are mentally ill and don't wash, people who are being violent.

I noticed a new sticker of the progress flag at my supermarket today, which said "everyone welcome." Of course they are, I thought, it is a major supermarket chain, half the people in the country shop there.

I thought that event First Aid was usually provided by contractors such as St John Ambulance or British Red Cross, not using NHS resources (even for a fee).

I don't think this should be stopped because it's a waste of public money (which it undoubtedly is), there's a more important reason. It should be stopped because it's a display of support for a political lobbying group. That should never be allowed.

@DdraigGoch - no, NHS staff are used as well, as are the police etc.

@InTheShadeOfTheFigTree agree - the money is a red herring (particularly as the OP didn't actually share the context of where the money was coming from).

"captured" in that they seek to recognise diversity, equality and those who need support?

Can't see that as anything other than a good thing! Bravo.

Every member of staff in the NHS should treat every patient and client equally. Anyone who doesn't either needs education or disciplining. Painting rainbows on NHS property does nothing whatsoever to promote equality for all.

Given Stonewall's problematic behaviour, promoting this particular cause leads some of us to think that women in particular are being treated anything but equally.

That's the response I'd anticipate from people who are unaware of the publicity around the NHS' wretched history and poor record to address issues of race, disability, and the full range of protected characteristics. Despite all the recent findings, the NHS is not showing any interest in systemic reform that would ease the lives of all of their staff and users with the full range of protected characteristics.

It's comparatively straightforward to compel suppliers to sign up to agreements and stump up money for perforative actions like a wrap on an ambulance.

This is emphatically a case where the NHS needs to do the work and consider the reformation needed to address EDI fully and equitably.

And the thought of being turned out on the roadside should you make a comment they Don’t Like (and of course feel ‘unsaaaaafe’ with).

where are the grown ups? These are grown ass adults acting like this???

NHS needs to focus on basics eg delivering babies safely and reducing waiting times at A&E rather than wasting precious time and money creating Mr Tumble’s bus. How any so-called NHS professionals could sit through meetings to approve these buses beggars belief. As for the Noddy cars used by the police…

I have known quite a few people who have worked for the NHS. Most have been absolutely straight up and down people who would have no time for this twaddle. However… I have know some who are absolute twits who would adore this distraction from actually doing their job. I suspect it is the latter who is driving Mr Tumbles bus here (love that).

I’ve just read the thread and newspaper article on the current shortage of pain relief for women in labour. Well, at least the ambulances look fun 😖