Government commits to updating NHS constitution to ensure privacy and dignity for women receiving care
The government has announced it will consult on proposed updates to the NHS constitution to ensure the privacy, dignity and safety of patients is respected.
The government has today announced it will consult on proposed updates to the NHS constitution to ensure the privacy, dignity and safety of all patients is respected.
Proposed changes will be brought forward later this year, ahead of the next routine update to the NHS constitution and its handbook in summer 2024. As part of this exercise, the government will closely consider the latest advice from the Equality and Human Rights Commission on delicate issues of balancing the rights of different protected characteristics of patients in certain settings.
Speaking at the Conservative Party Conference 2023, Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said:
To deliver the long-term change the NHS needs, we need a relentless focus on patient outcomes, and that means prioritising frontline resources. It does not mean spending huge sums of taxpayers’ money on diversity consultants. It does not mean ignoring patient voices, especially women’s voices, when it comes to the importance of biological sex in healthcare.
If we do not get this right now, the long-term consequences could be very serious for the protection of women and future generations. We know what a woman is and I know the vast majority and the vast majority of NHS staff and patients do too. That is why I ordered a reversal of unacceptable changes to the NHS website that erased references to women for conditions such as cervical cancer and stopped the NHS ordering staff to declare pronouns to each new patient.
That is why I am going further. By announcing that we will change the NHS constitution following a consultation later this year to make sure we respect the privacy, dignity and safety of all patients, recognise the importance of different biological needs and protect the rights of women.
The proposed changes will be made to the NHS Constitution for England, which aims to safeguard the enduring principles and values of the NHS, and to empower staff to help improve the care it provides by setting out legal rights for patients and staff when using NHS services. It also sets out clear expectations about the behaviour of both staff and patients, and the role they need to play in supporting the NHS.