Overview

• An audit of London NHS mental health trusts found policies permitting patients born male who identify as women to be housed on female wards.
• Forensic patients with histories of violent offending have been among those allowed to self-identify into female-only units at hospitals such as Broadmoor.
• Several trusts acknowledged that some transgender patients might be sexually disinhibited or pose a risk to female patients on single-sex wards.
• Existing 2019 guidelines accommodate patients based on gender identity, with a recent Supreme Court ruling defining sex as biological prompting a review.
• The Equality and Human Rights Commission is expected to issue statutory guidance that will shape forthcoming NHS rules on single-sex hospital accommodation.