- Updated NHS England guidance directs transgender patients to be placed on hospital wards matching their biological sex rather than their gender identity.
- Under the new rules, trans women can be lawfully excluded from female wards and trans men from male wards, with alternative arrangements required where biological sex placement is clinically inappropriate.
- Placing a trans patient on a ward matching their gender identity is expected to be rare, and any occurrences must be recorded and reported nationally as breaches of guidance.
- The guidance also applies to NHS staff facilities, saying that changing rooms and toilets should be used according to biological sex, with single-occupancy options suggested where appropriate.
- Trans rights groups have criticised the rules, warning they will “push trans people away from accessing care” and create unworkable operational challenges for hospital staff.
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