A new research note published by Policy Exchange exposes serious issues with ‘allyship schemes’ which have become commonplace across the NHS – with materials promoting gender ideology on display in multiple prominent locations at the Royal Free Hospital – a major NHS teaching hospital in London.
https://policyexchange.org.uk/publication/the-problem-with-allyship-schemes-at-nhs-hospitals/
Key Issues
• Materials seen by Policy Exchange – which have been on public display at The Royal Free hospital in London in recent months – including a pop-up banner and posters, act as a case study revealing a variety of issues associated with the activities of staff networks and ‘allyship’ schemes – often influenced by external organisations – which have become commonplace across the NHS in recent years.
• A publicly-accessible noticeboard in the hospital has a document entitled ‘7 Ways to be a good Trans Friend’ (Fig. 4) which tells staff that basic questions such as asking a patient “what is your name?” are inappropriate, posing challenges for staff to conduct routine tasks with patients, such as bringing up their patient records. It also contravenes General Medical Council guidance.
• A banner, seen in a photograph (Fig. 1) which has stood at the entrance of The Royal Free, makes the troubling suggestion that certain members of staff may be ‘safe’ ‘for LGBTQ+ patients to speak to’ on the basis of whether they wear an ‘LGBTQ+ Ally’ badge, setting a damaging precedent in creating a divide between staff who could be deemed ‘safe’/unsafe in providing care for LGBTQ+ patients.
• The wording of the banner is also suggestive of a hierarchy of protected characteristics. Other individuals with protected characteristics may feel that they too should be seen by staff ‘badged’ as culturally sensitive and ‘safe’ for ‘who they are and how they feel’ as a result.
• The lower half of the banner shows staff have made an anti-racist pledge under the ‘See ME First’ scheme which was established at a neighbouring London trust. Yet pledges – that staff should provide quality care regardless of a patient’s background and that fellow staff should be treated with respect – are already enshrined in both equality law and the NHS Constitution for England.
• Both the ‘LGBTQ+ Ally’ and ‘See ME First’ schemes have operated on the basis of staff either making a ‘pledge’ to obtain a badge or lanyard or participating in ‘Allyship Training’ via the staff intranet. No additional qualifications or ongoing assessment are required.
• Another notice (Fig 5) cites a 2018 survey conducted by Stonewall which claims that “1 in 5 LGBT+ people are not out to any healthcare professionals regarding the [sic] sexual orientation when seeking medical attention”. It is not clear why – in almost all cases – it would be appropriate to disclose sexual orientation to a medical professional when seeking ‘general medical care’ unless it was your express personal choice to do so or if it was of clinical relevance.
• Previous Policy Exchange reports have highlighted similar activity throughout the public sector, emerging through staff networks within the police force, and relating to same-sex provision within the NHS
https://policyexchange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/The-Problem-with-Allyship-Schemes-at-NHS-Hospitals.pdf