Stonewall condemns Health Secretary’s call to ban trans women from female NHS wards
“All it will achieve is to restrict access to healthcare for trans women”
LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall has criticised Health Secretary Steve Barclay’s proposed ban of transgender women from female NHS wards.
Mr Barclay is the latest Conservative MP to sideline the transgender community at the party’s annual conference.
He used his speech to ask for a restoration of a “common-sense” approach.
Possible changes could include plans to implement the return of “sex-specific” language across the NHS, as well as trans women no longer able to access care on female wards across the NHS.
“Sex-specific language has now been fully restored to online health advice pages”
Addressing Tory party members in Manchester, Mr Barclay said: “We need a common-sense approach to sex and equality issues in the NHS – that is why today I am announcing proposals for clearer rights for patients.
“And I can today confirm that sex-specific language has now been fully restored to online health advice pages about cervical and ovarian cancer and the menopause.
“It is vital that women’s voices are heard in the NHS and the privacy, dignity and safety of all patients are protected.”
He has been accused by Stonewall of announcing the proposals in a “cynical attempt to look busy”, instead of improving healthcare across the NHS for women.
“This is a cynical attempt by the Secretary of State to ‘look busy'” – Stonewall
A spokesperson from the charity said in response women “regularly report dissatisfaction with healthcare they receive in England.”
This includes issues such as not having symptoms taken seriously to underfunding on female-specific health issues.
They continued: “This is a cynical attempt by the Secretary of State to ‘look busy’ instead of getting on with the graft of implementing the Women’s Health Strategy.
“Besides being unworkable, all it will achieve is to restrict access to healthcare for trans women, by making it humiliating and dangerous.”
In his conference speech, Steve Barclay went on to announce plans to push back against what he called “wokery” in the NHS, which he believes have left women’s rights “sidelined”.
He went on to declare that “as Conservatives, we know what a woman is,” adding NHS workers have been stopped from having to declare pronouns to each patient.
Mr Barclay added: “Today I am going further by announcing that we will change the NHS constitution following a consultation later this year to make sure we respect the privacy, dignity and safety of all patients and recognise the importance of different biological needs and protect the rights of women.”