NHS axes Stonewall-backed Rainbow Badge Scheme which told hospitals to stop using 'woman' and 'mother' after the Mail revealed how it rewarded trusts for ditching 'gendered language'

As many as 77 NHS trusts across England signed up to be graded by Stonewall 

The NHS has axed a programme backed by Stonewall which told hospitals to stop using the words ‘woman’ and ‘mother’.

Health service bosses have ended funding for the NHS Rainbow Badge Scheme after the Mail revealed how it rewarded trusts for dropping ‘gendered language’.

As many as 77 NHS trusts across England had signed up to be graded by Stonewall and the LGBT Foundation, which back trans rights, on how inclusive they were towards patients and staff.

They gained points for referring to women in maternity wards as ‘clients’, renaming female health clinics ‘colposcopy clinics’ and asking patients what their pronouns are.

One briefing showed that staff were branded ‘transphobic’ if they questioned the NHS’s focus on gender identity.

As many as 77 NHS trusts across England had signed up to be graded by Stonewall and the LGBT Foundation. (Pictured, an NHS rainbow badge)

Helen Joyce, journalist and author of ‘Trans’, at home in Cambridge. She said the end of the scheme is a huge step in rooting out transactivism in public institutions

After this paper’s exposé last August, Whitehall officials started looking into the scheme, which was awarded £220,000 by NHS England in 2021.

And yesterday it was confirmed that NHS England would no longer fund the programme, which had been expected to run for five years.

Caroline Ffiske, from Conservatives for Women, said: ‘Sadly, though it may have had good intentions, the Rainbow Badge Scheme promoted an ideology that erases women, our language, our safety, our dignity.

‘Gender ideology should be nowhere near the NHS.’

Helen Joyce, from women’s rights group Sex Matters, said: ‘The end of the NHS Rainbow Badge scheme is a huge step towards rooting transactivism out of our public institutions.

‘The news should be a huge relief to NHS staff and patients, since the Rainbow Badge harmed women’s rights by prioritising trans identities over sex-based rights.’

NHS England said: ‘The Rainbow Badge programme is an important initiative to address LGBT health inequalities and to support LGBT inclusion, for both patients and staff. Our work in this area will continue.’