NHS staff told to ring police if language is transphobic

STAFF at an NHS quango have been told to call the police and use social media to expose transphobic language.

NHS Health Education England (HEE), a management quango for workforce training, has written a guide for its 3,700 staff titled “how to be a trans ally”.

It has 10 tips including to “challenge transphobic behaviour and language”. Officials should “use social media to challenge the bigotry that the media is perpetuating” and, if they witness such behaviour, to inform a manager, or the police if outside the workplace.

According to the manual, staff should “avoid he/she, ladies/gentleman and use ‘they’ instead” and introduce themselves with their pronouns. The guide also says staff should “support their (trans people’s) choice of bathroom” as this is “what we all do at home”.

‘Now is the time to educate ourselves and others to become active trans and non-binary allies’

Trans hate crimes can be reported to the police if they are perceived by the victim to be motivated by hostility or prejudice. However, transphobic language is a greyer area with police involved in rows over those who believe trans women are not real women.

NHS HEE is part of Stonewall’s diversity champions scheme and workplace equality index, which audits employers on their trans allyship and genderneutral language.

Dr Navina Evans, NHS HEE’s £190,000-a-year chief executive, said: “Now is the time to educate ourselves and others to become active trans and non-binary allies”.

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington said: “Many will be perplexed by the cost and prioritising of this [Stonewall] programme.” A HEE spokesman said: “We seek to support all potential staff by making them welcome and able to give their best for patients.”