When America sneezes, Britain catches a cold. Luckily for us, we have Wes Streeting on hand with the tissues. Within days of Donald Trump signing an executive order putting a stop to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programmes across the US government, our own Health Secretary has diagnosed the NHS as suffering from a similarly bad case of DEI-itis. There are ‘some really daft things being done in the name of equality, diversity and inclusion’, Streeting declared this week.
There are ‘some really daft things being done in the name of equality, diversity and inclusion’, Wes Streeting has declared
Speaking at an event on Tuesday organised by Macmillan Cancer Support, Streeting bemoaned the fact that genuine health inequalities were being undermined by ‘ideological hobby horses’. He cited the example of a social media post advertising a placement for counselling or psychotherapy trainees. The doctor, who shared the post and will be supervising the new recruits, noted that she takes an ‘anti-whiteness’ approach to her clinical work. ‘And I just thought “what the hell does that say to the bloke up in Wigan who’s more likely to die earlier than his more affluent white counterpart down in London?”’ said Streeting. Indeed.
You don’t need to be a doctor, or even the Health Secretary, to know that Streeting is absolutely right. Anyone who has had even passing contact with the NHS in recent years knows that it is utterly infected with diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. New outbreaks occur regularly, requiring continual vigilance and constant treatment. So rife is DEI-itis, the NHS struggles to perform its key task: health care.
Take the difficulty NHS England seems to have with the word ‘woman’. Back in 2023, the NHS watered down the use of the word ‘women’ in its online health guidance. Web pages on ovarian, womb and cervical cancers – crucially, diseases that only affect women – were re-written using gender-neutral language, apparently to include females who think they are men. Those looking for advice might have to work out whether they were a ‘person with a cervix’, which could be tricky for those with limited English, poor literacy or without GCSE biology. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which provides guidance for the NHS, rolled out a style guide recommending adding the phrases ‘pregnant people’ to ante-natal services and ‘trans and non-binary people with a prostate’ to male cancer provision.
Introducing gender ideology into the health service puts patients at risk. Men under the age of 60 are sometimes now asked if they might be pregnant before having scans or x-rays. Why waste time like this? Surely radiographers, of all people, are capable of telling whether someone is male or female? But then this is the NHS that oversaw the Tavistock Clinic, notorious for its now discredited work with children struggling with their ‘gender identity’. The full consequences of prescribing puberty-blocking and cross-sex hormones to youngsters may take decades to become apparent.
At every turn, trans-inclusion is less about medical need and more about ideology for the NHS. It is certainly not about the safety or feelings of staff. In Darlington, eight women nurses have been forced to take their NHS trust to an employment tribunal after a male, transgender-identifying nurse was permitted to share their changing room.
It is great that Streeting has spoken out against the ‘anti-whiteness’ psychotherapy placement supervisor. But there is a lot more where that came from. Nurse Amy Gallagher initiated a lawsuit against the Tavistock in 2022, alleging discrimination on the basis of race, religion and philosophical belief, as well as victimisation and harassment. Shortly after she began training in forensic psychology at the Clinic, Gallagher says she was made to attend lectures on ‘whiteness’ and white privilege where she was told that ‘whites don’t understand the world’ and that ‘Christianity is responsible for racism because it’s European’.
Gender ideology and critical race theory – the beliefs that underpin diversity, equity and inclusion practices – course through the veins of the NHS. Millions of pounds are spent on DEI. Staff have been paid to sit through training on the Black Lives Matter movement; LGBT-themed ‘tea and rainbow cake’ picnics have also been organised. To state the blindingly obvious: this is money that is not being spent on medical provision. And, let’s not forget, much of this madness happened when the UK had a Conservative government.
With Trump turning the tide on DEI in the US and Reform snapping at Labour’s heels in recent UK opinion polls, it’s perhaps not surprising Streeting is speaking out against the excesses of DEI in the NHS. But turning the tide on such a behemoth will require far more than mild-mannered statements about people being ‘well-meaning but misguided’. Those pushing for DEI training and urging the wearing of Pride-lanyards know all too well the impact of the ideology they are promoting. If Streeting is at all serious about stemming this expensive and divisive practice, he has one hell of a fight on his hands.
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