In 2021, the South Eastern Trust altered words in a leaflet about radiology scans to read “important information for all patients with a uterus (womb) aged 11-55” – leading one person to complain she found it insulting to her as a woman, and thought it may be confusing for those whose first language is not English. The trust said it had been consulting with the LGBT community, and the change was made so the leaflet’s pregnancy safety information didn’t exclude trans men, non-binary people and those with intersex conditions. But the Equality Commission has now criticised the trust as the gender neutral language wasn’t run through proper equality tests to see how it could affect any other group – including women. The commission also pointed out the trust is supposed to monitor the impact such changes could have on protected groups, such as ethnic minorities or disabled people, but didn’t collect enough information that would allow it to do that. According to a report from the commission published today, the trust said the gender-neutral rewrite happened for safety reasons as radiology can affect pregnancy and breast-feeding, which potentially could involve trans men, non-binary people and individuals with intersex conditions as well as women. It also said it had “worked with LGBTQ+ communities to create an inclusive language approach” protecting patients’ health and safety, which “resulted in the decision to remove the wording ‘uterus/womb’ from patient information pertaining to pregnancy”. But the Equality Commission’s investigation found the trust “did not equality assess the likely impact of its decision on all [potentially affected] groups, in particular, on women”. It also found the South Eastern Trust hadn’t “monitored the impact of its policy to use gender neutral language” on all affected groups of people, and “has not gathered relevant information” that could inform equality screening decisions on such changes.] The commission has recommended the trust carry out a review of its patient information policy to make sure it aligns with its legal obligations and the commitments in its equality scheme. Chief commissioner Geraldine McGahey said: “While the trust had taken action following the complaint to assess the impact of its policy, we have made further recommendations. We have asked the trust to review how it completed its equality screening to assess the possible equality impacts of its policy and have highlighted particular sections within the screening document for review. “We have also recommended that the trust put effective monitoring systems in place to gather information on the impact of its policies on all relevant groups. This will help the trust identify and assess potential adverse impacts of its policies. “It is imperative that the trust ensures all its policy-makers are aware of the commitments in its equality scheme. It must also improve how it recognises and responds to these types of complaints. “The commission recognises that the trust had already begun reviewing its practices during the course of the investigation. We look forward to an update from the trust on its progress on implementing the recommendations within six months.”

Original source: gb