Five clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have been accepted onto a programme to improve the care of lesbian, gay and bisexual people.
The new Stonewall Health Champions will receive:
– Over £6,500 worth of consultancy support each
– A needs assessment based on health research
– Support to establish a lesbian, gay and bisexual network for staff
– Access to NHS specific training on sexual orientation equality
Five clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have been accepted onto a programme to improve the care of lesbian, gay and bisexual people.
The new Stonewall Health Champions will receive:
– Over £6,500 worth of consultancy support each
– A needs assessment based on health research
– Support to establish a lesbian, gay and bisexual network for staff
– Access to NHS specific training on sexual orientation equality
– And a benchmarking meeting to identify the next steps at the end of the programme
The Health Champions scheme aims to offer practical advice for real improvements in the care provided to local gay people and their families.
East and North Hertfordshire CCG, Northern, Eastern and Western Devon CCG, Nottingham City CCG, Tower Hamlets CCG and Wirral CCG will be part of this year’s programme, together with 15 other NHS organisations, including community healthcare trusts and foundation trusts.
Jenny Winslade, chief nurse for Northern, Eastern and Western Devon CCG said: “The vision of our CCG is healthy people, living healthy lives, in healthy communities and we believe this should be the case for all people, regardless of their sexual orientation or protected characteristic.
“One of our main objectives is to commission, or buy, services with our partners to reduce the inequalities that exist, while improving people’s lives.
“We want to make sure our healthcare providers are sufficiently meeting the needs of lesbian, gay and bisexual patients, leading to identification of the underlying causes of their health problems sooner rather than wasting time and money on misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment.”
The CCG will display a rainbow tick on its website and printed materials so people know it is a lesbian, gay and bisexual-friendly organisation.
National research by Stonewall shows that lesbian, gay and bisexual people face significant health inequalities, as well as discrimination, when accessing health services.
