What my NHS Trust have said about the Supreme Court verdict

[Opinionpolecat]

The NHS Trust I work at sent an e-mail to all staff yesterday talking about the Supreme Court ruling. They stated that the judges have said that “woman” in UK law is based on biological sex. They go on to say that they want to be clear the ruling does not change the fact that everyone is welcome in the Trust and that they are an inclusive organisation. They say everyone deserves respect and understanding including staff, patients and families. They understand that some staff members may feel they need support at this time and recommend the LGBT+ staff network where LGBT+ staff and allies can find support and advice.

It struck me that they think only LGBT+ plus staff and allies will need support and advice, and the reassurance that the trust is such an inclusive organisation. They say nothing about the fact their policies have discriminated against female staff and patients for many years. They don't even admit to it but say this wasn't their fault, it was due to NHS wide guidance and they offer no apology to female staff, patients and their allies about these years of discrimination. They say nothing about the fact that for many years some female staff and patients may not have felt welcome or included within the Trust. Have any other NHS staff had similar messages?

EDP article: https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/25162970.norfolk-hospitals-defy-supreme-court-ruling-trans-care/

(I used 12ft.io to read it)

My Trust are still dragging their feet and saying their "inclusive" (meaning illegal) policies are still being used. They also say, in the same breath, that the law hasn't changed and they follow the principles of the Equality Act (meaning they don't actually comply with it) but are waiting for guidance in case they need to make any "informed and considered" changes to policy (meaning they're going to drag their feet as long as possible until somebody sues them/they end up in the papers about it/they can claim they've been forced to do it). It's quite a big Trust, I can't believe they haven't already had complaints about males in female spaces.

It seems like the problem is that the NHS don’t seem to understand that their policies are unlawful.

Theyve all followed DfH guidelines from 2009 so they can’t quite understand that their policies are context had changed.

its the numbers. 1 in 130000 in 2004 to 1 in 70 in the under 25 age group in 2022. What worked once by fudging the law really doesn’t work now

Hopefully they’ll wake up to this but it will take a while. We might have to wait for the Peggie and Darlington cases to resolve.

But if current staff and patients are being bound by old policy then all complaints will be squashed or ignored. It’s still not easy for people to say no.

i hope it changes for you soon

Obviously we still have to wait for the outcomes of the Darlington and Fife cases, but I don’t think there will be much tolerance of trusts that continue to waste money on tribunals when the law is already established.

Agreed!
But if the DfH gave them this steer initially then they may be (rightfully?) thinking that the DHSC should issue more now…. I only just thought of this. I wonder when that guidance will come? Why is it down to the EHRC?

And when their employer breaks the law, are the strikers also willing to pay the resulting legal fees and any claims for damages?

It’s 5 weeks since the Supreme Court ruling which was all over the news. Somebody senior in the Trust or somebody in HR must have thought maybe they should read the policies on equality, trans inclusion, single sex wards etc to see if they might be affected by the ruling. Are they really all so stupid they can’t see their policy is illegal? Are they all convinced their policy is fine because they all believe in gender? I’d love to know if any of our senior management are paying any attention beyond sending out some emails to make it look like they’re doing something.

They don't want to admit they are wrong.

If they do, they a) admit liability for screwing over women b) upset a bunch of difficult people they don't want to have to deal with the drama of c) look stupid for getting it wrong in the first place.

They are hoping women will put up and shut up. Like they've been conditioned to.

They have a rude awakening to come.

There will be test cases and then insurance issues.

I’ve been digging through the history of Dept of Health guidance on mixed sex accommodation, but it’s becoming clear that that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

All the Dept of Health documents (guidance, best practice etc) on equality, from around 2006 are equally out of line with the law as set out by the Supreme Court.

I think Knotty is right, the Dept of Health needs to do a sweep of their guidance and update it. And then publicise it. I can’t believe how many EQIAs I’ve seen that don’t list the correct protected characteristics, just as a starting point.

It’s also the belief that, while straight men encounter TWs in all sorts of settings public and private, it’s there in the heady atmosphere of the men’s bogs that said straight men are suddenly unable to resist the charms of those TWs, lose all control and make moves on them.

Makes total sense

are nhs insured?
I know dr and nurses are as part their registration, but the nhs as organisation?

The weekly staff newsletter has asked that we all update our email addresses in the approved corporate manner. A link was provided to an approved example with instructions for creating your own in the style. I naturally clicked on the link, curious to see if pronouns or other logos with a meaning were now to be compulsory.
Well it is a completely plain and unembellished style:

First name Surname
Job Title
Department
XXX NHS Foundation Trust
Address
Telephone
Link to website
Hospital logo

I’m intrigued.
No pronouns.
Gone are the rainbow logos much beloved by some. 🌈

I have found a screen shot I saved from July 2023 where our CEO "invited" colleagues to follow her lead by adding pronouns to their emails. There was an accompanying video of her explaining why it matters. There was a link to a template we could use. There was also discussion on the intranet chat around adding pronouns to our name badges with HR letting us know the pronoun feature had be Ade available on the Teams profiles.

Another thing that I noted a couple of months ago (pre-SC ruling) was someone on the intranet asking where they could get a rainbow lanyard. HR came on to say there were none left and that lanyards were being reviewed.

It sounds like rainbow lanyards are on their way out, I'm guessing they can't be bothered to have an argument with fans of the lanyards and are going quietly to let them die a death due to lack of supply. Though they could introduce a corporate trust lanyard which is what I'd like to see.

Anyway, it does feel like a little bit of normal service resuming. I'm wondering if the CEO has fallen out of love with gender ideology, or if she has seen which way the wind is blowing, or if, possibly, pressure is coming from above eg Wes Streeting diktats.

Excellent!

Glad to hear some balance is returning. And by the sound of it thats been happening for a while. Maybe be in the same way the Stonewall tide rose up, the tide will quietly go out without huge fanfare?

Have any MNers contacted their Trust CEO for clarity on their response to the Supreme Court ruling and interim guidance? Any experiences to share?

I’m part of a small group of gender-critical [my profession] colleagues who recently formed online, and we’ve drafted questions for our professional body following their unbalanced response to the ruling and focus on trans members. We’ve secured an online meeting with their EDB Lead to discuss.

This has motivated me to openly address legitimate concerns I have about our Trust’s compliance with the law, implications for practice, and protection of female staff and patients in the hospital. I’d have a separate set of questions to the ones we have drafted for my professional body.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14749911/Ministers-ban-civil-servants-gay-trans-pride-progress-flag-lanyards.html

There's suddenly no money for this in the civil service.

Remember that the NHS is supposed to being brought back under direct control of the department of health rather than through NHS England, so my suspicion is this is going to start quietly happening within the NHS too.