Devon’s NHS joins forces with national charity to improve healthcare for lesbian, gay and bisexual people

Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has been successful in a bid to take part in national charity Stonewall’s Health Champion programme.

It is the only CCG in the south west to be accepted onto the programme this year and one of just five CCGs in England.

Involvement in the programme means the CCG becomes a health champion for lesbian, gay and bisexual people, who should expect to benefit from improved health services.

Participation in the programme comes at no cost to the CCG and Stonewall will provide free consultancy time.

It means the CCG gets free support for a year to develop health services for lesbian, gay and bisexual people. The support will be based on research by Stonewall and public health experts in Devon and Plymouth.

Jenny Winslade, chief nurse for Northern, Eastern and Western Devon CCG, said:

“We are delighted and proud to have been chosen by Stonewall to become a health champion for lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

“Over three million people in England are either lesbian, gay and bisexual and we know from extensive research that they often have significant differences in their health needs compared with those of heterosexual people.

“The vision of our CCG is healthy people, living healthy lives, in healthy communities and we believe this should be the case for all people, regardless of their sexual orientation or protected characteristic.

“One of our main objectives is to commission, or buy, services with our partners to reduce the inequalities that exist, while improving people’s lives.

“As part of our pledge to involve people in healthcare developments we are committed to gathering views from lesbian, gay and bisexual people in our local communities so we can learn what is important to them.

“We want to make sure our healthcare providers are sufficiently meeting the needs of lesbian, gay and bisexual patients, leading to identification of the underlying causes of their health problems sooner rather than wasting time and money on misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment.”

The CCG will display a rainbow tick on its website and printed materials so people know it is a lesbian, gay and bisexual-friendly organisation.

National research by Stonewall shows that lesbian, gay and bisexual people face significant health inequalities, as well as discrimination, when accessing health services.

A gay member of staff at the CCG welcomed the organisation’s involvement in the programme and said he found the CCG allowed lesbian, gay and bisexual staff to be themselves without the worry of discrimination.

“In Devon I know of people who have experienced how difficult it can be for gay, lesbian and bisexual people to get access to the treatment they need,” he said.

“They have told me that sometimes they feel they have no one to speak to about the problems they are experiencing so it is fantastic to see that the CCG is working with Stonewall to improve awareness of their needs.

“Having experienced levels of homophobia in some of the previous organisations I have worked for, I feel that as a gay member of staff, the CCG allows me to be myself.

“There is always work to do in terms of connecting with lesbian, gay and bisexual people, but the fact that the CCG has become a health champion shows its commitment, not only to the patients and public that it serves, but also to its staff.”

James Taylor, Stonewall’s senior health officer, said: “By being part of the Health Champions programme Northern, Eastern and Western Devon CCG will receive free support from Stonewall to achieve real improvements in the care provided to lesbian, gay and bisexual people and their families.”