NHS Policy Audit - working party - thread #2

[KnottyAuty]

This is a thread about “keeping the receipts” on NHS Policies prior to the Supreme Court ruling on 16th April 2025.

Our working theory is that there were no single sex spaces for NHS Staff or Patients in the entire country before that date, having all been removed by stealth. We are aiming to prove this by auditing websites and policies for all the UK trusts and using the results to raise public awareness. As well as recording what has happened historically, the information will form a baseline so we can check which Trusts comply or defy the judgement in due course.

We are working around the country region by region. If you fancy getting involved in a bit of grassroots feminism then please do join in to help!? Each trust takes about an hour to research and you can upload online without giving any personal details away. Comment below and we can give you the link to an online survey - it changes for each region.

Thanks soooo much to all the vipers who have helped so far and @ Twoloons for doing a great job with the thread wrangling!

Here are the press articles we’ve managed to generate so far:

Scotland:
25th March: The Telegraph
https://archive.is/dTUhY
26th March: Scottish Daily Express
https://archive.is/kaLCB
26th March: The Telegraph
https://archive.is/iSD9m

London:
21st April: The Telegraph
https://archive.is/awGuz
23rd April: The Telegraph (in conjunction with another thread by NHS mumsnetters)
https://archive.is/1DO8d

Original thread #1 here:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5291237-nhs-policy-audit-working-party?page=1

Clearly there is a one of those GC cells (mentioned on another thread) at that hospital. They sound brilliant! My faith in human nature and critical thinking is being restored. Those green shoots are very reassuring that sanity can return to the public sector.

It is great but I bet it took a lot of bravery to say those things and I bet it was either the more senior staff or the staff about to retire saying it - given the dreadful response rate, how many staff were simply cowed into silence by their appointed doublethink training sessions?

Still, it is heartening to see that the reaction of some staff members to the loony policies is the same as normal women! My favourite quote was 'is the most discriminatory and intolerant community that I’ve encountered' referring to the LGBTQ+ community. The policies I've looked at so far rather add evidence to that point of view.

Defo link in the Additional comments - the do pick out the best quotes and flag there for proper attention. Cheers!

Not wanting to put anyone off their breakfast this morning but I had a look for more info on the Rainbow Badge. See link. NHS England was a joint founder and funded the creation of this scheme. 😲How much money? Do we need an FOI to find out?

https://lgbt.foundation/help/nhs-rainbow-badge/

It’s a funny one this - the finances would be interesting - it’s seems to be a carbon copy of Stonewall’s scheme. Not sure if they “took” the intellectual property or if Stonewall handed it over willingly as they’ve got more controversial…

An FOI for the Rainbow Badge scheme is a good idea.

There is an FOI I would like to do for the Civil Service which could include NHS and the whole public sector.

What was the total EDI budget/expenditure split by a) staff budget b) non-staff budget by financial year since 2020/2021. ( or even since 2015/2016.)

What was the staff (patient) profile by the 9 protected characteristics by financial year since 2020/2021.

What percentage of the a)staff and b) non-staff budgets/expenditure were spent on each of the 9 protected characteristics by financial year since 2020/2021.

It would have to be separate FOIs to avoid being refused as too much work.

By asking for staff and non-staff budget they can’t hide the true cost - staff costs often get over looked but cost ££.

I suspect they will merge Sexual Orientation and Gender Reassignment.

I would be amazed if they didn't use 'gender' and leave out sex. My Trust's EIA templates from that time only lists the PCs as race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation and religion or belief.

They also do not collect info on staff or patient actual sex - only gender or 'legal sex' (self ID). I'll be surprised if any public bodies have any data on anyone's actual sex.

Just been having a hunt round the FOI already made to NHSE on the rainbow badge scheme and found one from last year that answers my initial question.

"The costings associated with Phase 2 of the NHS Rainbow Badge scheme since
its launch by NHS England in 2020:
2020/21: £70,000
2021/22: £242,000
2022/23: £197,000
2023/24: £40,000"

There was also one from Ermine which asked for greater information but they declined to answer properly on the basis of commercial sensitivity. It looks as if she challenged this but I can't see the outcome.

I've been thinking about the quality of the FOI responses too. Many of them seem to be a bit shit frankly and I have seen a few that say "information not held" when they are providing the same information they claim they are not holding to a different enquiry. I'm just doing one such Trust now so will put the links here (and also in the jotform) in case it is worth noting as an angle to pull out of the research - lack of transparency x 100s 😑

Ermine's FOI response July 2024 "information not held" Gender reassignment and/or transgender guidance and policies - a Freedom of Information request to Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust - WhatDoTheyKnow

FOI response from the same trust August 2024 re single sex chaperones which claims the info the requester asked for has been moved into different policies which are attached. One of these has a section on Single Sex Accommodation which the Trust claims not to hold one month before Single sex chaperone and intimate care policy in Trust - a Freedom of Information request to Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust - WhatDoTheyKnow

Separately, also shows we shouldn't take no for an answer when looking for this info! I have had quite a lot of success searching Trust websites and the web for "privacy and dignity" when single/same sex/gender has yielded nothing

I know a very nice man who works in a public sector organisation and he says his response to every request to do more things like the Rainbow Badge is 'sounds great, now what do you suggest I NOT do in my job in order to make time for this'.

What are NHS hospitals NOT doing in order to have time and money for this? I'm guessing operations. You read this and understand why waiting lists are so long.

I've been thinking about the quality of the FOI responses too. Many of them seem to be a bit shit frankly

My experience too.

The last trust I did they responded to FOI requests over a several year period saying documents demanded were 'in the process of being prepared' or something similar. I think there's only so long this is an acceptable response, and it's not years.

I know a retired professor who says similar about universities. The ballooning of roles for people to manage these schemes, and the resultant siphoning of funds, time, energy from anything to do with teaching, is almost certainly a large part of why so many unis are having to axe whole departments at the moment.

"Almost 60pc of employees at the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) said they would not be happy with the standard of care at the beleaguered organisation if their friend or relative needed its support.

The figure was the lowest of any mental health trust in the country - and is also a decline from the previous year's survey, when it was also the nation's worst score."

Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust staff survey result | North Norfolk News

Oh yikes. That is grim.

Parasitic. That’s the word I was trying to think of earlier. This whole thing is parasitic.

UPDATED LIST - shout if you spot errors. And thank you to all!!

It looks like we only have 4 trusts unclaimed!

EDIT - I spotted an error! Hold on a mo!

Let’s try that again:

East of England
[italics = claimed, strikethrough = completed]
Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes

• Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - Cantunseeit
• Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust - Cantunseeit

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

• Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - noisiesttermagant
• Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust - Blackmetallic
• Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust - WithSilverBells
• North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust - Faffertea
• Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust - NeedMoreTinfoil

Hertfordshire and West Essex

• East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust - FarriersGirl
• Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust - FarriersGirl
• Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
• Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust - umbel
• West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust

Mid and South Essex

• Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust - teawamutu
• Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust - teawamutu

Norfolk and Waveney

• James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - YellowRoom
• Norfolk Community Health & Care NHS Trust - Cantunseeit
• Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - Cantunseeit
• Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust - Cantunseeit
• Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn NHS Foundation Trust - Cantunseeit

Suffolk and North East Essex

• East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust - YellowRoom
• East Suffolk and North East Essex NHS Foundation Trust
• West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

Just for fun I asked ChatGTP if it thought that an ideology could be parasitic. Interesting.......

Can an ideology be parasitic in its behaviour with respect to organisations

ChatGPT said:
Yes, an ideology can behave parasitically with respect to organizations.
In this context, a parasitic ideology is one that infiltrates an organization and begins to shape its language, policies, and priorities in ways that may serve the ideology more than the organization’s original mission or goals. The term “parasitic” implies that the ideology:
Enters through appealing or benign means – often under the guise of values like fairness, justice, or innovation.
Redirects resources and attention – from the organization's core functions toward promoting or enforcing the ideology.
Replicates itself – by influencing hiring, training, and internal communications to ensure ideological conformity.
Resists expulsion – by framing criticism as moral failing or disloyalty, making it hard for the host organization to self-correct.
Can weaken or destroy the host – if its influence leads to inefficiency, division, loss of focus, or reputational damage.
Examples often cited include:
Political ideologies reshaping academic institutions or nonprofits, shifting focus from scholarship or service to ideological advocacy.
Corporate social responsibility initiatives turning into ideological battlegrounds, sometimes at odds with shareholder or customer interests.
Of course, whether an ideology is truly parasitic depends on one’s perspective—what one sees as corrosive, another may see as redemptive or necessary reform.

That's presumably the cost to NHS England only. It won't take into account the staff time in every single trust in putting together their assessment for the scheme, nor in discussing, agreeing, implementing and monitoring the "improvements" needed to score more highly.

I mean, we're probably talking millions here overall.

Just the figures from the business cases so the actual cash handed over. It seems that no further funding has been given since 2024 so it looks like Wes has put a stop to it.

@FarriersGirl:

Examples often cited include:
Political ideologies reshaping academic institutions or nonprofits, shifting focus from scholarship or service to ideological advocacy.
Corporate social responsibility initiatives turning into ideological battlegrounds, sometimes at odds with shareholder or customer interests.

Says it all, doesn’t it?

Good spot!

I can take another Trust to do at the weekend. If that's helpful please just allocate me one. Thanks

That’s eerily accurate isn’t it?!

Sorry for the radio silence today - been a busy day.

I've finally got to the last trust checking through al 40 -
But I'm struggling a bit with Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust

Does anyone have time to have a look to find Rainbows or Stonewall stuff please?