In the midst of what is nothing short of a historic crisis for the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), its staff are ‘advised’ to adopt a speech code, which would ask them—under possible threat of ostracization—to mention their preferred pronouns in every patient interaction.
The new protocol, included in a new training module titled ‘LGBTQIA + Awareness’, is meant to cater to sensitivities presumably held by all transgender and non-binary patients—a whopping 0.5% of Great Britain’s population.
The advice, which comes from Health Education England, a so-called ‘quango’ (quasi autonomous NGO) reads: “The easiest thing to do is to start by introducing yourself with your own pronoun. In doing so,” the organization claims, “you are creating a safe space for trans, non-binary, intersex and gender non-conforming people who may not feel comfortable to go first in introducing themselves with pronouns.”
The guide goes on to state that NHS staff who identify as trans must be allowed to use toilet facilities for the gender they identify as, irrespective of whether they had undergone hormone replacement therapy and/or surgery.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Dr. Louise Irvine, co-chair of the Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender, a non-profit, primarily devoted to preventing children from gender reassignment treatments before other options are explored, said:
Having staff stating their pronouns at the start of conversations runs the risk of making some patients feel uncomfortable. If the advice in this training module is adopted in the NHS, staff will feel compelled to declare their pronouns even if they didn’t want to. If they failed to do so they would stand out and may even be accused of transphobia. So what this is about is a forced recruiting of people into a particular ideology.
The NHS is sticking to the module, and has said it was not part of its official policy, and only optional for staff.
The supposedly neutral Health Education England is looked upon with suspicion by some for its association with Stonewall, the world’s largest LGBT charity. Last year, for efforts made towards inclusion, it received a gold award from the organization. In addition, it climbed 145 places in its Workplace Equality index, ranking 110th out of 403.
In the past, Stonewall has recommended removing the word ‘mother’ from maternity-related policies, citing discrimination against trans people who were born female but now identify as male.
The ‘revelations’ have put even more of a magnifying glass on the NHS, as it leads many to question its priorities.
While the UK’s health service, which last July 5th celebrated its 75th-year anniversary, had long been a source of pride to Britons, it is staring in the face a lack of funding, critical staff shortages, long waiting lists for patients (leading some to pull out their own teeth at home), as well as an autumn plagued by strikes.
Talk TV pundit Kevin O’Sullivan therefore slammed the guideline for being “obstructive,” labeling it “bad wokery battling reality and common sense.”
