NHS staff have been warned that using the wrong pronouns for transgender and non-binary people increases their risk of suicide, The Telegraph reports.
The online training module, called “LGBT plus identities”, tells NHS England staff that using the correct pronouns is “critical” to reducing the risks of suicide, as well as depression and self-harm.
The module, which forms part of NHS England’s equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) training, asks staff: “Why is it so important to get pronouns right?”
The answer: “it isn’t just about helping them to feel accepted and welcomed” but also reducing suicide risk.
According to the module, “trans and non-binary people report some of the highest rates of suicide, depression and self-harm,” “Ensuring that people are referred to using their correct name, gender and pronouns is critical to reducing these risks.”
An NHS pronoun Q&A asserts that every context where a “trans youth’s chosen name is used, their risk of suicidal behaviour is reduced by more than half”. What’s more, those who have their pronouns respected “attempted suicide at half the rate of those who did not have their pronouns respected”.
However, the only source given for these claims is data from a 2022 survey by the United States LGBT+ suicide charity Trevor Project.
Critics say the NHS guidance is irresponsible and has no basis in fact.
Maya Forstater from the human rights charity Sex Matters said it was “grossly irresponsible of the NHS to throw around suicide threats in staff equality training”.
“The suggestion that not affirming gender identities increases suicides not only goes against available evidence but also completely contradicts the Cass Review’s recommendations” she said.
“Of course NHS staff should treat everyone politely, but it is completely inappropriate for an emotional blackmail tactic to be brought into official staff training,” Ms Forstater added.
Furthermore, an NHS source said the “poorly evidenced claims” were “statistically unfounded and emotionally disgraceful”.
“This narrative is repeated everywhere. It is like a religion being forced upon staff,” they said.
“We have a duty to ensure we are not inadvertently spreading health misinformation.”
The revelation comes less than a week after the Government’s own suicide adviser criticised the “insensitive, distressing and dangerous language” used by activists who claimed the puberty blocker ban would “kill trans children”.
Activists told Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, he had “blood on his hands” after outlining his intention to uphold the puberty blocker ban.
Prof Louis Appleby’s report into the Tavistock gender identity clinic found that claims of an ‘explosion’ in suicide among children questioning their gender lacked evidence.
Reflecting on this issue, Prof Appledby said “suicide should not be a slogan or a means to winning an argument”.
Prof Appleby said “campaign groups are often selective about evidence” and that young people and their families “will be terrified by predictions of suicide as inevitable without puberty blockers”.
chief executive of LGB Alliance, Kate Braker, said it was “deeply irresponsible, coercive and abhorrent”.
“The truth is that most of the young people being persuaded they can only be happy by pretending to be the opposite sex are simply coming to terms with being gay or lesbian,” she said. “If the NHS truly has the interests of young people at heart, it will cease peddling these damaging and dangerous suicide myths.”
An NHS spokesman said: “The NHS has a duty to treat all patients equally in the services it provides, and LGBT+ people often report experiencing inequality and discrimination when receiving healthcare. NHS staff work hard to ensure that all patients feel comfortable seeking the care that they need.”
