GPs to ask patients their SEXUALITY after NHS bows to equal rights pressure
No one has to answer the question if they don't wish to and answers will be recorded to ensure 'no patient is discriminated against'
DOCTORS and nurses will be told to ask patients over the age of 16 if they are gay, bisexual or straight under new NHS rules.
No one has to answer the question if they don't wish to and answers will be recorded to ensure "no patient is discriminated against".
But the move has been blasted by MPs as an "Orwellian" invasion of privacy.
Former Labour Minister Graham Stringer, MP for Blackley and Broughton, told the : "Unless it’s related to your health, your sexuality is not the NHS’s business."
And Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said: "It sounds intrusive and Orwellian."
A spokesperson for the NHS said: "All health bodies and local authorities with responsibility for adult social care are required under the Equality Act to ensure that no patient is discriminated against."
They added: "This information standard is designed to help NHS bodies be compliant with the law by collecting, only where relevant, personal details of patients such as race, sex and sexual orientation.
"They do not have to do it in every area, people do not have to answer the questions and it will have no impact on the care they receive."
But the Family Doctor Association said it was "potentially intrusive and offensive" for GPs to monitor people's sexuality.
Chairman Dr Peter Swinyard told the that GPs tend to know patients' sexuality or ask if it is relevant to their health.
He said: "Given the precious short amount of time a GP has with a patient, sexuality is not relevant."
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