Minister for Equalities awards Lewisham GP Practice for trailblazing programme for LGBT patients

21 Oct 2019 01:16 PM

Minister for Equalities, Baroness Williams, recently congratulated Woolstone Medical Centre, based in Lewisham, for spearheading a new programme which trains GPs and staff in primary care organisations to fully support LGBT patients.

The Practice was presented with a Gold Award in the  Pride in Practice (PiP) programme which has been developed by the LGBT Foundation; and funded by the Government Equalities Office.

PiP trains practitioners to meet the needs of their LGBT patients, from making a practice more welcoming to ensuring that patients are addressed in an appropriate way.  

Woolstone were praised for being the first practice in London, and in the GEO-funded scheme, to receive the Gold award, demonstrating a real commitment to providing excellent and appropriate care to their LGBT patients.

Minister for Equalities, Baroness Williams, recently said:

“It is vital that LGBT people are able to access appropriate healthcare and are treated with respect.

“I would like to congratulate Woolstone Medical Centre on achieving the Gold Award for the Pride in Practice programme, showing a real commitment to ensuring they serve LGBT people in a supportive and respectful manner.”

As part of the LGBT Action Plan, the Government Equalities Office launched a £1m health grant scheme to fund projects to ensure LGBT people get the right healthcare support.

Pride in Practice was originally developed in Manchester, where since 2016 it was been delivered to 398 primary care services. The Government Equalities Office has funded the LGBT Foundation to pilot Pride in Practice in NHS GP practices, dentists, pharmacies and optometrists outside of Manchester in London and more rural areas of England. Under the grant scheme 350 primary care organisations, 75% of which are general practices, will be put through the Pride in Practice scheme.

Background:

The Pride in Practice scheme includes:

• Access to training around LGBT inclusion, which provides information on how to provide appropriate services to LGBT people, support around Sexual Orientation and Trans Status Monitoring, myth busting, and confidence building with staff around terminology and appropriate language.
• Support to deliver effective active signposting and social prescribing for LGBT communities, linking services with a range of LGBT-affirmative local community assets to facilitate holistic approaches to care.
• Ongoing support from a dedicated Account Manager providing consultancy and support on a range of topics based on the needs of the service, identified through the supported assessment.
• Community Leaders volunteers who provide insight and lived experience to ensure patient voice, influence and greater public involvement.
• LGBT patient insight so that services can be proactive about meeting LGBT patients’ needs (i.e. access to research, focus group data and case studies sharing best practice), via involvement of Community Leader volunteers who we will support to ensure increased patient and public involvement in the programme.
• Practical support, guidance and confidence building for staff members on how to implement the Sexual Orientation Monitoring Information Standard.
• An accreditation award, including a wall plaque and Pride in Practice logos for letterheads and websites. This enables primary care services to promote their equality credentials, and demonstrates their commitment to ensuring a fully inclusive, patient-centred service. Awards are graded Bronze, Silver or Gold depending on assessment results. Assessments are carried out with the support of a dedicated Account Manager.