Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Kamall on 24 May (HL476 and HL475), how medical professionals are held to account for any negative consequences that arise from how they have recorded a patient’s gender.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
All regulated healthcare professionals are required to register with the relevant professional regulator, such as the General Medical Council, in order to practice in the United Kingdom. These regulators determine the standards which registered professionals must meet and the professional values, knowledge, skills and behaviours required. Regulators are independent bodies and can take action to restrict the practise of healthcare professionals who fail to meet the expected standards.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answers by Lord Kamall on 24 May (HL476 and HL475), what assessment they have made of the (1) clarity, and (2) inclusivity, of using the language “people with cervixes” in the Gender Identity Toolkit for General Practice.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made. The Toolkit is made available by the Institute of General Practice Management, Indigo Gender Service, Practice Index and Pride in Practice. It is designed to improve the knowledge of general practice teams when providing inclusive and equitable care to transgender and non-binary patients.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Kamall on 24 May (HL476 and HL475), what assessment they have made of the risks to (1) patients, and (2) medical professionals, that might arise as a result of the policy on recording gender set out in the Gender Identity Toolkit for General Practice.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
No formal risk assessment has been made.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what form of risk assessment was carried out by (1) Public Health England, and (2) other NHS bodies, before (a) implementing a system of recording patients by their chosen gender identity rather than their biological sex, and (b) deciding to create a new stand-alone NHS record for those patients who choose to change their recorded gender identity.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
No record of a formal risk assessment is held, either on the mandatory introduction of National Health Service numbers in 1997 or following the introduction of the Gender Recognition Act in 2004.
When a patient changes gender, they are given a new NHS number. When a patient informs their general practice that they wish to change gender, the practice must inform the patient that this will involve a new NHS number being issued, which is not reversible.
If a patient is issued with a new NHS number, they will not automatically be recalled for certain sex-specific screening programmes. The online only guidance ‘NHS population screening: information for trans and non-binary people’ provides advice to transgender and non-binary people in England on the NHS screening programmes available in England and the processes for inviting people to screening.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what systems are in place to avoid confusion about the biological sex of a patient when NHS bodies change that patient’s gender as recorded on medical records; and where responsibility lies for any adverse clinical outcomes that follow from any such confusion.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
The Gender Identity Toolkit for General Practice provides guidance on the process for creating a new patient record when a person requests a change to their recorded gender. It supports general practice teams to continue to provide inclusive and equitable care to trans and non-binary patients when their records change, such as the need to transfer medical records and recalling patients for appropriate sex-specific screening programmes. A copy of the toolkit is attached. The treating medical professional is responsible for the individual’s clinical outcomes.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment the NHS made of the implications for the right of a patient to request treatment from a doctor of the same sex when allowing doctors to register under a new name and gender on the General Medical Council medical register.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
No formal assessment has been made.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what form of risk assessment was carried out before allowing doctors to register under a new name and gender without any link between their new and old registered identities on the General Medical Council medical register.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made as the General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator responsible for operational matters. On the registration of new identities, the GMC states that it follows an established process for doctors who are transitioning and wish to change their gender identity. This ensures there is a maintained internal link between a doctor’s previous and new identity on the medical register.