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

I'll take 4 and 18. And apologies if any of the gaps were mine!

Thank you, all yours!

And to you and everyone else, please no apologies for any missing or sparse information. This is a hard job, made worse by knowing that you are staring at evidence of women’s rights being trampled on. Even those of us who have done dozens of these will miss things. That’s why this group is so brilliant - the more eyes on it the better.

You vipers are heroes, just remember that.

I can do 11

All yours! Thank you!

The two Lincolnshire ones are separate trusts. The partnership trust is mental health services, the community health trust runs local services including community hospitals. I can do one of them - I'll take 27.

Thank you! All yours.

I’m out and about this morning, should be able to help this afternoon if there are still some left unallocated. I’ll pop back and wave when I’m in a position to get started

I previously did 18 (Derbyshire Healthcare) just to let you know the Trust policies seemed inaccessible although there was a public search page - the same 20 (irrelevant) policies showed up regardless of search term. Previous FOI response stated that the policies I was looking for were available to the public on their website. But that wasn't my experience. If you're able to find a way through the search page it looked like the information should be there.
I did email the Trust with a deliberately nonspecific query about being unable to access policies as a member of the public, but got a useless generic reply back

Thank you - very useful info!

I'm not in a position to be able to help with the tasks but I am waving my pom poms for you amazing wims 😍

Love the pom poms! Thank you!

West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust
I can do a form for this but apols the info is really patchy. It's the first ambulance Trust I've looked at.

FOIs:
Stonewall - Jan 2024 FOI says there has been no correspondence with Stonewall or any other Diversity and Inclusion Organisations.
EDI costs - 2022 FOI Diversity and Inclusion Lead exists
No Ermine FOI available
FOI 4809 The Ambulance collects data on patient forms as per national Ambulance data-set:
Male (including trans man)
Female (including trans woman)
Non-binary
Other (not listed)
Not Known (not recorded)
Not Stated (person asked but declined to provide a response)

Couldn't find a singe-sex accommodation policy
Couldn't find trans policy for staff or patients
Trust policies are not available on website - have to request
Board Minutes - summaries, need to request full minutes
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion page on Trusts website - 'page not found'

There is an LGBT+ staff network
There is a Women's' Network for anyone who identifies as a woman

There is an EDI strategy - WMAS-Equality-Diversity-and-Inclusion-Strategy-July-2021 - evidence of stating gender is a PC and omitting sex.
Did find a reference to EDI workplans, Equality Report 2023 but couldn't find them

Twitter/Facebook - lots of references to Pride plus trans star of life badges, trans day of visibility, Trans day of remembrance, WMAS inclusive space for trans staff and patients, trans flag. And Steph, one of the first trans paramedics working on the frontline.

There is a well-being website https://wellbeing.wmas.nhs.uk
https://wellbeing.wmas.nhs.uk/health-and-wellbeing-newsletter/
References Stonewall
Springboard: A Women’s Development Programme - for female staff and open to trans women and non-binary staff
Introduces the Diversity and Inclusion Lead and the Proud Network

@YellowRoom, I think the ambulance trusts are quite spotty in general. If you have time and don’t mind doing a form, even with the spotty info, that would be great - submitting the form auto generates cells in a spreadsheet, so that just saves @KnottyAuty a step.

And thank you!!

I can help from tomorrow afternoon. I don't want to take one now when someone else could be getting on with it. I'll check back in then to see if any left to do!

Lincolnshire Community Health Services Trust - quite unusual in that they have made their policies easily accessible on the website and have a reasonable search engine. I have had a good trawl through and trans and LGBT issues barely get a mention! I have done an FOI search as well and found one from 2021 that says they don't have any trans gender policies. If that has changed I can't find any evidence of it. I worked for the NHS in Lincolnshire over 20 years ago and it is very rural so I can believe that GI is just not much on their radar.

Interestingly it is also the only trust I have looked at that has an outstanding rating from the CQC. Maybe, just maybe, focusing on delivering decent patient care without the endless distractions of gender woo pays dividends? 🤔

@FarriersGirl:

Interestingly it is also the only trust I have looked at that has an outstanding rating from the CQC. Maybe, just maybe, focusing on delivering decent patient care without the endless distractions of gender woo pays dividends?

That is an interesting correlation. I wonder if we can actually run some stats on that…

Thanks for posting this as it is a great example! Firstly ambulance trusts don't any any accommodation policies so the first part of the forms will be empty or very sparse which is OK.

Then there are the FOIs which others (not Ermine) have put in regarding Stonewall. They ask quite specific and time bound questions. So I have found that many of them answer "no" but that doesn't mean there was no association with Stonewall. I have come across the following:

• They say that no money was paid to Stonewall in a time period - failing to mention that they are partipating in scheme variations which didn't require a fee at that time! (Too many trusts I can't remember which).
• They claim there is no correspondance because it was with people who have left and their inboxes have been shut down (Tavistock & Portman).
• We have no Transgender policy - but it has been provided to someone else's FOI in the previous 12 months (NHS Lanarkshire)
• Walsall was really bad! They had one FOI where they said 'Previously we have asked for a price to be a member in 2021 but have never actually joined.' - but our auditor found a Stonewall Diversity Champion badge on a current 2025 current job ad. They also claimed they had no trans policy but amongst the documents which were released under FOI there was a 4 page "Stonewall Action Plan" which listed a draft policy and outlined all the policies and activities they would need to lift their rating from 232 ro 100 in the Stonewall WEI!!

So with such obvious obfuscation - please read these FOI responses "like the Devil reads the bible"!?

The Stonewall evidence is usually best seen if they celebrate the Stonewall concoction which is "Trans Day of Visibility", attend pride, have an LGBTQ+ network and an Allies group. This is a shopping list of items in the Stonewall requriements. So job ads and social media posts are best for this it seems.

In some ways it is these obvious lies and contradictions which are the useful examples to explain that the whole thing is a bit rotten. So please do look for and flag these.

And provide the URLs for the evidence plus screenshots so we have copies for when/if this stuff gets taken down. We need the receipts!

Thanks for all the sterling work wims xx

It should certainly be possible to identify all the trusts that are rated outstanding. I'll have a look.

Form submitted x

I’m back. Can pick one up if any still looking for a home

Oh thank you! If you scroll up to Knotty’s list, all but 4, 18, 11 and 27 are still free.

I'll do, 24 Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust to start with

im still Pom poming for you all - can that be a verb? Well it is now also have some news which may cheer up people who are understandably finding it hard…

went to my GP Tuesday and their was an a4 printed sign stuck up in reception pointing different arrows for “male toilets/female toilets”. I was at GP on 5th April but sign wasn’t - so this is a “see-able”(?) change…

i know Supreme Court ruling and the new “guidance” for NHS has probably prompted it but that ruling and guidance was issued exactly because women fought and fought, just like these brilliant threeads. So it’s so worth it, it’s amazing work.

i know @KnottyAutymy NHS news on last thread cheered you, i never mention friends/family in nhs as I think I make myself identifiable on these threads but there are a lot more of GC women (and men) speaking up at work. there is still a lot of fear eg I know some would like to go to the LWS GMC meetings but worried about backlash of their photos on social media etc esp new starters in nhs. But things are definitely changing,

I know that bit is “gossip” (not right word, I mean third hand info) but personal experience now- I spend a lot of time at/in hospitals (5 inc 2 different trusts due to specialists) and many more staff seem aware of it eg obvious eye rolling when asking obligatory gender questions on admission etc. 80 per cent atm usually include an A and E visit and when I can I raise the wonderful Sandy Peggy case, some are aware some not but quickly become GC when they are made aware! anecdata but the most common aspect in those already aware - is that her union didn’t back her, that’s a real stinger for them,. Lack of an expectation of back up from higher up in nhs seems baked in but the union not having their back after happily taking their fees esp col atm, is a special kick in the teeth.

being able to say that in RL other women have her back and will have theirs too is a brilliant thing. and now being able to use as example all work here, and it’s getting press coverage, is great and hopefully will make them feel supported.

sorry that was long and rambly and prob full of SPaG fuck ups (letting the FWR boards down on that!) as not very with it but really wanted to post whilst I could. (And Pom poms!) to all.

Thank you!!

@GCEpileptic, thank you, so much! Your long, lovely message - and the pom poms! - does indeed make this all feel worth it 💜💚