Over 400 nurses and midwives have called upon the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to quit Stonewall’s ‘Diversity Champions’ scheme and its Workplace Equality Index.
In an open letter to the regulatory body, healthcare professionals raised serious concerns about the damaging effect of the controversial LGBT lobby group’s radical gender ideology on their daily duties.
Co-ordinated by the campaign group Woman’s Place UK, the letter also calls on the Chief Nurses of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to take a public stand against Stonewall’s influence in the NHS.
Concerns
The letter restated the signatories’ commitment to the NMC’s Code of professional standards, including “safeguarding”, “evidence based practice”, and upholding “the law and rights of patients”.
scientifically incorrect and ideologically misleading language
As a result, it continued: “We believe that as a profession, there is specific risk to the reputation of nurses and our ability to work within our Code from the NMC’s affiliation with Stonewall.”
Among specific concerns raised were Stonewall’s insistence that men who say they are women should be permitted to stay on female-only hospital wards, and its promotion of “scientifically incorrect and ideologically misleading language” such as ‘sex assigned at birth’.
It also criticised the radical group’s support for the use of experimental puberty blocking drugs to treat children diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
Shocking and unsafe
In support of the statement, one health care professional said: “It is shocking that public money was spent to endorse what is essentially a pressure group acting against the NMC Code.”
Another wrote that the requirement to “affirm gender identity” had resulted in “male bodied patients” being placed on female-only psychiatric wards and prevented staff from having a “frank conversation about risk” with often “traumatised women”.
In addition, one midwife commented: “Maternity care and midwifery must be woman centred in order to offer safe and effective care which honours women’s experiences of pregnancy, birth and motherhood.
“Inclusivity does not require removal of women and mothers from our language.”
‘Speaking up’
Kiri Tunks, of Woman’s Place UK, told MailOnline : “we are concerned that women’s rights in healthcare are upheld so we are really glad that nurses and midwives are speaking up”.
Inclusivity does not require removal of women and mothers from our language.
She also said: “They are in a particularly difficult situation because they feel their voices are very constrained. As the comments make clear, current registrants are very nervous about being identified and targeted for raising concerns.”
Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Social Care joined a host of organisations to leave Stonewall’s beleaguered ‘Diversity Champions’ scheme.
In October, BBC journalists Stephen Nolan and David Thompson revealed the widespread influence Stonewall has been able to exert on UK public institutions.
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