Doctors’ union passes motion calling for ‘identity-based care’ for LGBTQ+ patients

The largest doctors’ union in the UK has approved a motion calling for “identity-based care” for LGBTQ+ patients.

A resolution passed by the British Medical Association (BMA) affirmed the right of all queer patients and members of NHS staff to receive care based on their lived experience and identity – above all else.

The motion was passed during the BMA’s annual representative meeting, in Liverpool, on Wednesday (25 June), with members pledging to produce “pan-UK guidance” to help healthcare officials create inclusive and appropriate care for all patients.

The BMA defines identity-based treatment as “care and policies that actively account for the individual’s lived, intersecting identities,” which include sexuality, gender, neurodivergence, race and cultural background.

The move comes at a time of growing tension between the NHS and the LGBTQ+ community over healthcare policies for queer patients, particularly transgender men and women.

A number of trans patients have told PinkNews that their GPs have begun withdrawing prescriptions for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) without warning. Several doctors cited a “lack of expertise” and “lack of support” in prescribing the medication.

The BMA’s representative body chairperson, Dr Latifa Patel, said the union aimed to help healthcare professionals “deliver identity-informed care” through national guidance and lobbying strategies, which would ensure that “no one is left behind”.

Patel, a paediatric respiratory resident, went on to say: “The patients we care for every day have diverse and intersecting identities that affect their health risks, treatment outcomes and overall quality of life. Providing care that recognises and responds to these differences isn’t optional. It’s the only effective way forward and the right thing to do.”

Supporting trans healthcare a ‘no-brainer’, BMA members say

Acknowledging the Supreme Court ruling, which decreed that the 2010 Equality Act’s definition of sex referred to “biological sex,” Patel said it did not “prevent healthcare that takes gender identity into account” and that providing appropriate care “remains a vital part of how we care for our patients and for each other”.

In a speech ahead of the vote, BMA member Bethan Stanley said “blatant transphobia” had overwhelmed the political climate, and that support for the motion was a “no-brainer”.

Stanley, a student who describes herself as an aspiring obstetrician, added: “We should support care that is going to improve the welfare and wellbeing of our patients.”

As part of its evaluation of the Cass Report, a review of the care of transgender youngsters in England and Wales, the BMA called for the indefinite ban on puberty blockers to be lifted.

The report, published in April, made upwards of 32 recommendations, some of those which came in for criticism, including a call for “extreme caution” when prescribing puberty blockers to under anyone under the age of 18. Activists and medical experts also questioned the decision to regard some research as being of “poor quality.”

BMA council chairman professor Philip Banfield, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, said it was vitally important that the report be scrutinised, and that the “complex needs” of trans children and young adults required diligence to ensure “they get the most appropriate care and the support they need”.

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