Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government why they intend to consult on their longstanding commitment regarding single-sex hospital accommodation in their NHS Constitution 10-year review.
The Government is not consulting on the longstanding policy of single-sex hospital accommodation, as part of the NHS Constitution consultation. We are consulting on an update to the existing pledge on sleeping accommodation in hospitals, to reflect the legal position on the provision of same-sex services on which transgender patients can be offered separate accommodation, as a proportionate means to a legitimate aim. We are consulting on this in recognition of the concerns that patients may have about sharing hospital accommodation with patients of the opposite sex.