The HSE has said it will establish a working group to examine placement of transgender patients in hospital wards.
In response to a Parliamentary question made by independent TD Carol Nolan, the HSE’s National Office for Human Rights and Equality Policy confirmed to the Independent TD for Laois Offaly that the HSE is in the process of drafting terms of reference to look at developing national guidance on mixed sex accommodation in hospitals.
Gript has learned that the National Office also confirmed that a working group will be established to “examine best practice in other jurisdictions and any local policies that have been developed.”
The review will also include the consideration of ‘issues pertaining to transgender places of care’.
Deputy Nolan raised the matter with the HSE following an announcement by the UK’s Health Secretary in early October that the UK government would consult on making changes to the National Health Service (NHS) constitution which it was reported, would include retaining single sex wards and the right to request same-sex intimate care requests:
In response to confirmation that the HSE would work to establish guidelines on the issue Deputy Nolan said, “I very much welcome the decision by the HSE to establish a working group to examine this matter, and I certainly hope that it will lead to a position being adopted similar to the one being proposed in the UK,”
“We are at a critical juncture in terms of the erosion of women’s biological reality, and I for one am more than happy to make a stand to protect the importance and significance of this reality.”
“We know that this is a deeply contentious issue and I do think we need to be sensitive about how we approach the matter, but ultimately we have to push back against the ideological and cultural hijacking of what it is to be a biological woman.” she said.
Nolan added that, “We have already seen how this issue is creating massive controversy in terms of biological males being housed in female prisons. To my mind, this demonstrates that we need clear policy direction on the matter which protects women’s privacy right across the range of public service,”