The Kings Fund – Acting on the evidence: ensuring the NHS meets the needs of trans people

The public discussion of trans people’s rights in the UK is often bad-tempered, sometimes extremely so. The failure to improve rights for trans people in recent years has contributed to the UK falling to 14th in the European rankings on LGBTI rights (it was top as recently as 2015). For many in the NHS this wider societal discourse may seem like ‘somebody else’s business’, a thought possibly reinforced by the fear of getting caught up in such an aggressive space. However, as the Health and Care Act 2022 has again confirmed, the core purpose of the NHS is to provide good-quality health care to all and to reduce inequalities. If it wants to live up to that vision, the NHS cannot ignore the poor health outcomes and poor access to services that the available evidence suggests many trans people experience.

Richard Murray, Chief Executive at The King’s Fund, takes a look at the evidence around poor access to health services and poor outcomes experienced by trans people and asks what more the NHS can do to better meet people’s needs. Click here to read the report.