The NHS has defied the Supreme Court by allowing trans patients access to single-sex spaces in English hospitals.
Staff are using old guidance allowing biological males who identify with the opposite sex to use women-only spaces such as changing rooms, wards and toilets.
It comes more than eight months after the Supreme Court ruled that the term ‘women’ in the Equality Act referred to biological sex.
Hospital policies seen by The Telegraph newspaper are said to reveal that hospitals are using a range of guidance – including that trans women should be allowed to use women’s spaces, and that staff should look out for families taking advantage of vulnerable dementia patients who have forgotten they are trans.
The NHS is waiting for direction from ministers following proposals from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) that services should provide single-sex spaces based on a person’s biology.
Women and Equalities Secretary Bridget Phillipson is understood to have received the proposals in September, but is yet to come to a final decision.
Meanwhile, shadow equalities minister Claire Coutinho said the NHS policies ‘range from the mad to the downright dangerous’.
She said: ‘NHS trusts are clearly putting ideology above the law in a way that undermines the safety and privacy of staff and patients.’
She added: ‘Despite what these HR policies may say, the law is clear that biological sex is real and relevant.’
Health Secretary Wes Streeting pledged to overhaul the NHS’s guidance on single-sex spaces following the Supreme Court ruling in April, but has since been stuck in limbo.
For now, guidance from 2019 – that has been ‘under review’ for several years – is still the only national guidance for NHS trusts.
An NHS spokesman said: ‘The NHS is continuing to review its guidance on same-sex accommodation while we await final guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission and, as part of this process, will consider and take into account all relevant legislation and the Supreme Court ruling.’
A government spokesman said: ‘We have always supported the protection of single-sex spaces based on biological sex. This ruling brings clarity and confidence, for women and service providers such as hospitals, refuges, and sports clubs.
‘We expect all service providers, including hospitals, to act on the ruling and through our 10 Year Health Plan, we will ensure people receive the care they need, when and where they need it.
‘NHS England is currently reviewing its ‘delivering same-sex accommodation’ guidance and will ensure it reflects the Supreme Court ruling.’
It comes as GPs will be allowed to specialise in ‘gender medicine’ and prescribe hormone-altering drugs on the NHS under new plans labelled an ‘immediate priority’ by health officials, it was reported last week.
The move follows a review of NHS adult transgender clinics by Dr David Levy, a consultant in general medicine, which found services are struggling to cope with rising demand and long waiting lists.
Under the proposals, specially trained GPs would be able to prescribe cross-sex hormones after patients have received a year of specialist care, rather than requiring ongoing oversight from specialist clinics.
Dr Levy said developing ‘local hormone-prescribing pilots’ would help ease pressure on overstretched services, given that many patients require lifelong treatment.
