NHS jobs - still using gender instead of sex

[IsadoraBathrobe]

If you apply for a job in the NHS the website lists the protected characteristics incorrectly and replaces sex with gender. Anyone know who to complain to about this? Surely this should have been corrected before now.

Can you share a link here @IsadoraBathrobe ?

Hi @WittyLimeBiscuit It’s on the NHS jobs website, I can’t share a link as you have to be in the process of applying for a role to see the relevant pages. Basically it’s when you get to the DEI questions the protected characteristics are listed using gender instead of sex so it is legally incorrect. It also asks for your gender as part of the screening questions. I just wondered if this had come up before and whether the NHS had been asked to change it to comply with the actual law. I’ll see if I can take a screenshot.

Ffs even if they intend ‘gender’ merely as a euphemism for ‘sex’, if there’s one organisation which really shouldn’t be doing that it’s the NHS.

Exactly - this was supposed to be a factual list of the protected characteristics so it needs to be correct!

I think NHS should record bio sex and gender in all settings

So, for a TW, they would know this person prefers to be referred to as "she" but does not require eg smear tests

Thanks for posting this - can you DM me. SEENinHealth might be able to flag this as part of their twitter campaign

Sorry - to be clear can you dm me the name of the trust and job?

Most trusts cant list the 9 protected characteristics correctly. It’s embarrassing- someone is getting paid to do this correctly…

The NHSjobs applications I've filled recently (for several different trusts) do list all the protected characteristics correctly in the second sentence of the Equal Opportunities section:

In addition to this, under the provisions of the Equality Act 2010, all NHS organisations are required to demonstrate that their recruitment processes are fair and that they are not discriminating against or disadvantaging anyone because of their age, disability, gender reassignment status, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

Then, oddly, two paragraphs down, there's this:

The Equality Act 2010 protects people against discrimination on the grounds of:
• their age and sex.
• their race which includes colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin.
• their religion or belief, including a lack of any belief.
• their sexual orientation, be it bisexual, gay, heterosexual and lesbian.
The Equality Act 2010 also protects people who are married or in a civil partnership.

No mention of disability, gender reassignment, or pregnancy and maternity.

Then the Equality and Diversity Monitoring section includes this:

Please indicate your gender

There are also questions about date of birth, marital status, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religion or belief, disability, and socio-economic background. THERE IS NO QUESTION ABOUT SEX.

Because it's not a valid use of tax payers time and money, and should strictly be an off site, personal time activity.