NHS Trust Tells Staff to Stop Using English Phrases Like "It's Raining Cats and Dogs"

Max Thompson, Campaigns Officer

24 April 2026

In yet another striking display of diversity, equality and inclusion nonsense, an NHS trust has told its staff to stop using everyday English expressions — including "it's raining cats and dogs" and "the early bird catches the worm" — on the grounds that they may cause offence to foreign patients.

And no, this is not a belated April Fool.

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust issued this directive as part of its — shock horror — diversity and inclusion training programme. Within a 17-page document first published in November 2024, the architects of this guidance argue that these anodyne phrases, deeply embedded in the national vocabulary, lack cultural sensitivity. The guidance warns that such expressions "may not translate well across other cultures" and might require further explanation when communicating with international colleagues or patients.

We are increasingly seeing across the public sector — and particularly within the NHS — a zealous policing of language that serves no clinical purpose whatsoever. This document claims it is "crucial" for healthcare workers to use "considerate, inclusive" language on the grounds that it helps create "a healthier society." Staff have also been advised against addressing a group of people as "guys", and instructed instead to deploy gender-neutral alternatives such as "colleagues" or "team."

And of course, it would not be a proper diversity programme without the obligatory instruction to use "they/them" pronouns when a patient's gender is unclear, rather than the perfectly serviceable male or female.

General Secretary and founder of the Free Speech Union, Lord Young of Acton, has warned that guidance of this kind risks triggering witch hunts against employees for using commonplace terminology and perfectly lawful speech.

Lord Young said: "This sounds like an April Fool, but the reality is that these busybodies are constantly churning out new language guides, banning an ever-increasing number of words and idioms."

The Free Speech Union has handled a significant number of cases involving NHS workers — particularly older employees — who have faced investigation or disciplinary action for being deemed "culturally insensitive." A prime example is Karen Webb, an NHS nurse of 42 years' standing, who was hounded for her gender-critical views after a senior activist colleague reported her social media posts and a comment she made on a team call. She even faced losing her honorary Queen's Nurse title. In the end, Karen felt compelled to retire.

Lord Young added: "The result is that more and more NHS employees, particularly older employees, are finding themselves under investigation for being 'culturally insensitive' — which is code for 'racism.' If you're not fluent in 'woke-ish' — a constantly shifting modern dialect — you will eventually be cancelled."

Lord Young has suggested that this accelerated language policing may be a deliberate attempt to ease older members of staff towards early retirement. Whatever its intention, the effect is clear: capable, experienced NHS workers are being driven out of a health service that can ill afford to lose them — not for any clinical failing, but for speaking plain English.

Read more from GB News and watch Karen Webb tell her story here.