• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About DNS
  • Subscribe to DNS
  • Advertise with DNS
  • Support DNS
  • Contact DNS

Disability News Service

the country's only news agency specialising in disability issues

  • Home
  • Independent Living
    • Arts, Culture and Sport
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Employment
    • Housing
    • Transport
  • Activism & Campaigning
  • Benefits & Poverty
  • Politics
  • Human Rights
You are here: Home / Independent Living / MPs launch inquiry into care discrimination faced by LGBT service-users
Ju Gosling sitting in her wheelchair

MPs launch inquiry into care discrimination faced by LGBT service-users

By John Pring on 9th August 2018 Category: Independent Living

Listen

Disabled activists have given a guarded welcome to the launch of a new inquiry by MPs into the discrimination faced in accessing health and social care services by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities.

The Commons women and equalities committee, which has launched the inquiry, said that the results of a government survey, published last month, showed the discrimination faced by many LGBT people in accessing healthcare.

It said the survey showed that almost a quarter (23 per cent) of respondents who had been in a care home said that being open about their LGBT status had had a negative effect on their care.

The committee said its inquiry would “consider whether provision is adequate, whether discrimination is still occurring, and what more needs to be done to improve access to health and social care”.

The LGBTQI+ disabled people’s organisation Regard welcomed the decision to launch the inquiry but raised concerns that its focus appeared to be on access to healthcare rather than social care.

Dr Ju Gosling (pictured), co-chair of Regard, said the committee also appeared to be confused about the distinction between healthcare and social care.

She said: “While the evidence is clear that LGBTQI+ people face discrimination in health care, it also shows it is more extreme in social care.

“LGBTQI+ people are also much more dependent on social care than other disabled and older people, due to the reduced availability of support from family and friends.”

Gosling also raised concerns that the committee appeared to have excluded non-binary and intersex people from its new inquiry, “when we know they face specific barriers in accessing health care”.

She said Regard would submit evidence to the committee’s inquiry.

Last October, ground-breaking research co-produced by Regard found that more than a third of LGBTQI+ disabled people have experienced discrimination or received poor treatment from their personal assistants because of their sexual or gender identity.

Almost a third said they felt they had been discriminated against by their local authority on the grounds of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

And more than 90 per cent said their needs as an LGBTQI+ disabled person were either not considered or were only given some consideration, when they were assessed or reviewed by their council.

Among the questions the committee is asking are: in which areas of healthcare do LGBT people experience worse outcomes than the general population? How effectively do health and social care providers take the needs of LGBT people into account? And what does the evidence show about levels of discrimination against LGBT people in accessing health and social care?

Maria Miller, the committee’s chair, said in a statement to launch the inquiry: “Evidence suggests that the healthcare needs of LGBT people are not currently being met effectively, some report that they still face discrimination in health and social care, and there are inequalities in outcomes between LGBT groups and the wider population.

“We welcome the government’s recently announced action plan and its commitment to ensuring that LGBT people’s needs are at the heart of the NHS.

“This is therefore a crucial time for us to look at how services can best be provided and improved for LGBT patients.

“We want to hear from organisations, individuals, researchers and service providers about what can be done to make health and social services more effective for LGBT people.” 

The deadline for written evidence to the inquiry is 5 October 2018.

 

 

A note from the editor:

For nine years, Disability News Service has survived largely through the support of a small number of disability organisations – most of them user-led – that have subscribed to its weekly supply of news stories. That support has been incredibly valuable but is no longer enough to keep DNS financially viable.

For this reason, please consider making a voluntary financial contribution to support the work of DNS and allow it to continue producing independent, carefully-researched news stories that focus on the lives and rights of disabled people and their user-led organisations.

Please do not contribute if you cannot afford to do so, and please remember that DNS is not a charity. It is run and owned by disabled journalist John Pring, and has been from its launch in April 2009. 

Thank you for anything you can do to support the work of DNS…

Share this post:

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on WhatsAppShare on Reddit

Tags: Discrimination Ju Gosling LGBT LGBTQI+ Regard social care Women and equalities committee

Related

‘Huge barrier’ of care charges is forcing disabled people into poverty, peers are told
30th June 2022
Research shows how tens of thousands of disabled staff are ‘managed out’ of jobs
23rd June 2022
Disabled councillor describes how PIP and access failings stalled her political career
16th June 2022

Primary Sidebar

Image shows a man wearing glasses sitting by an open laptop The text reads: Free Career Support for Disabled People Our services include: 1-2-1 Coaching Online Career Resources Find Support near you Search for Inclusive Jobs Career Events and Workshops Visit the Evenbreak Career Hive today to find out how we can help you

Access

Latest Stories

Disabled people are playing their part in defending their country, say Ukraine activists

DPO gives stark warning to disabled people about Covid pandemic

Covid inquiry ‘must examine catastrophic impact of pandemic on disabled people’

Mayor’s ‘ultra low emission zone’ plans ‘will impact tens of thousands of disabled people’

Disabled activists will push for changes to draft mental health bill that ‘breaches rights’

DWP yet to sign claimant deaths legal agreement with watchdog

‘Huge barrier’ of care charges is forcing disabled people into poverty, peers are told

DWP ignored ‘hugely alarming’ research that linked WCA with 600 suicides, MPs are told

Transport secretary silent after misleading MPs about tactile safety markings

DWP’s ‘failing assessment system is increasing poverty and worsening mental health’

Advice and Information

Readspeaker

Footer

The International Standard Serial Number for Disability News Service is: ISSN 2398-8924

  • Accessibility Statement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site map
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2022 Disability News Service

Site development by A Bright Clear Web