LGBT Foundation’s Post

Today, the UK Government have published their 10-year mission to build a National Health Service (NHS) fit for the future. As the leading national health & wellbeing charity for LGBTQ+ communities, we warmly welcome seeing that the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector will make a valuable contribution in delivering the plan. The government’s commitment to addressing waiting times within the 10-year mission is reassuring. Too many members of our community see their health and wellbeing deteriorate whilst stuck on waiting lists. LGBTQ+ patients' experiences will also improve considerably with the commitment to introduce a single patient record for the NHS. It is crucial that our healthcare providers have accurate demographic data, inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity (as non-clinical information), as this will help shape the national understanding of risk factors for ill-health. We also welcome the commitment in this plan to the use of strategic partnerships between NHS, Local Government and voluntary organisations, as a means to achieve a reduction in health inequalities. Through 50 years of experience working with the LGBTQ+ community, and frontline services which support 45,000 people each year, we know that LGBTQ+ communities face specific health inequalities which we must work in partnership to address, commissioning for inclusion. To address the structural health inequalities which LGBTQ+ people experience, we need all services working collaboratively, bringing on board the expertise of community-led organisations to ensure pride in practice, advancing inclusion.