NHS hospitals accused of ‘erasing women’ after signing up to be graded by trans charities

DOZENS of hospitals across Britain have signed up to be graded by trans charities — which mark them down for using words such as “mother” and “woman”.

Trusts are judged by woke groups as part of an NHS Rainbow Badge Scheme and rewarded for dropping “gendered language”.

MPs want ministers to step in after 77 trusts joined the scheme — which also sees them score points for referring to maternity patients as “clients”.

Hospitals get rewarded for gender-neutral toilets and asking patients about their pronouns.

And calling cervical screening clinics “colposcopy” instead of women’s health is also rewarded.

The scheme is run by trans rights lobbying groups such as Stonewall and the LGBT Foundation, who carry out the grading.

NHS England has agreed a £220,00 deal with the charities.

Former Cabinet minister Ranil Jayawardena blasted the scheme and called for ministers to step in.

He said: “It seems the NHS is willing to erase women so they can please radical ideologically-driven campaign groups.

“Ministers must step in.”

This has led to fears that the lobby groups are dictating NHS policy.

Hardworking staff who just want to treat patients and so speak out against the NHS’s focus on gender identity are branded homophobic and transphobic.

And some reportedly are facing “tougher consequences” from bosses.

A source close to Health Secretary Steve Barclay told Mail Online: “Any scheme which does not recognise the role of women and biological sex in the NHS directly contradicts ministerial steers and raises serious questions of propriety.

“The Secretary of State has been very clear that women should be called women and freedom of speech upheld.

“He expects that guidance to be followed.”

And Caroline Ffiske from Conservatives for Women said: “We have to ask ourselves who is running the NHS? 

“We are in the absurd situation whereby Stonewall dictates important policies by the back door.”

The scheme was initially set up for NHS staff to support LGBT people by wearing an enamel pin badge.

But it has been turned by NHS England into an “assessment and accreditation model” to grade trusts according to their inclusivity. 

NHS England agreed an exorbitant deal whereby leading charities would grade health organisations on their inclusion work.

Stonewall supports people being allowed to ‘self-identify’ as the opposite sex.

Meanwhile the LGBT Foundation helped write a recent guide for health bosses that said patients have no right to know if they are being treated by transgender medics.

Out of 77 trusts, 35 have been awarded a bronze award and one silver has gone to Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, with 28 getting only an “initial stage certificate”.