Meeting the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people

Stonewall, a charity that campaigns for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) equality, has produced a guide for care and support organisations about working with older LGB people.

The guide provides information on:

• the law.
• supporting older LGB people.
• tips and case studies for care homes, domiciliary services, health care services, housing providers and councils.
• involving LGB people in service provision.

Download the guide on Stonewall’s website.

Working with Stonewall

Health and social care services must take into account the sexual orientation of people using their service and must avoid any form of discrimination in order to comply with the national standards.

It is not enough for health and social care services to avoid discrimination, LGB people need services to take action to advance equality of opportunity in order to feel safe and confident when receiving care services.

We are working with Stonewall as part of their Health Champions Scheme (which supports NHS organisations to improve services for LGB people) to develop the way we monitor services’ compliance with standards relating to equality.

Stonewall will help us to:

• look at the methods that we use to regulate services and guidance for inspectors.
• develop learning for our staff around equality for LGB people.
• support our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staff network to develop activities which help other staff to understand key issues for LGB people who use health and social care services.

20 NHS Trusts are also participating in the Health Champions Scheme and will receive support from Stonewall to develop equality in their health services for LGBT people. Visit Stonewall healthy lives for full details on participating trusts.