Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Rosie Duffield and Maria Caulfield

Wednesday 15th May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Rosie Duffield (Canterbury) (Lab)]

7. What steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to help ensure that health and social care providers collect sex-based data.

[The Minister for Women (Maria Caulfield)]

NHS England plans to make further changes to reporting on sex and gender in national datasets once the unified information standard for protected characteristics has been approved and published. This will unify reporting on eight of the nine protected characteristics, including gender reassignment and sex.

[Rosie Duffield]

I know that the Secretary of State agrees that vulnerable women with learning disabilities and all women should be able to access same-sex care, particularly with regard to intimate physical care. That is especially important in the light of the shocking report by the Women’s Rights Network and Jo Phoenix on rape and sexual assault in hospitals and care settings. That is why the proper collection of data based on sex is vital. Does the Minister agree?

[Maria Caulfield]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. We are currently consulting on the NHS constitution, which will give women not just the right to same-sex accommodation in hospitals, but the right to ask for someone of the same sex to conduct intimate examinations. There are safeguards, and we are looking at some of the incidents in trusts in order to better protect patients and staff. She is absolutely right to raise the issue of data collection and ensuring that that is happening.