Tag Archives: NHS

This Lesbian Couple Just Won A Major Legal Battle After Being Told To ‘Pay More Than A Straight Couple’ To Have IVF Treatment

Laura Hineson and Rachel Morgan were told by their local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group they would have to spend £6,000 on six rounds of intrauterine insemination due to unexplained infertility.

However, under Barnsley CCG’s policy, a heterosexual couple with similarly unexplained infertility would not need to undergo the same procedure before being granted access to IVF treatment.

The couple enlisted law firm Leigh Day to look into claims of unlawful direct discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 on the grounds of their sexuality.

The couple’s lawyers had threatened to seek a judicial review if the CCG did not agree to change its policy.

In response, Barnsley CCG conducted a review of the couple’s case – and conceded that it had relied too heavily upon the policy rather than looking at the specific circumstances of Rachel and Laura’s case.

Rosa Curling, solicitor at law firm Leigh Day, said: “It was clear to us that Laura and Rachel had faced direct discrimination due to their sexuality.

We are pleased that the CCG finally recognised this and agreed to review their policy so that other same-sex couples will not face an unfair disadvantage over heterosexual couples in the same situation.”

The couple had attempted to conceive using artificial insemination at home between November 2014 and January 2016. When this proved unsuccessful they were referred to Sheffield Fertility Centre in May 2016.

They underwent three self-funded cycles of IUI treatments at the fertility centre.

This was unsuccessful so they made an Individual Funding Request (IFR), via their consultant, to the CCG to fund the IVF treatment.

This was rejected by the CCG which stated that the couple were required to undergo a further three cycles of self-funded insemination before being eligible for funding for IVF treatment.

Laura and Rachel said:

For us, this is about fighting for LGBT equality. We should have equal access to IVF treatment and a family, irrespective of the gender of the person we fall in love with.”

LGBT Rights Activists Welcome NHS Questioning Of Patients Over Sexuality

This week, it was announced that UK doctors will now ask patients about their sexual orientation.

In England, NHS patients will be asked about their sexuality under new guidelines designed to ensure lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people aren’t discriminated against.

The new guidelines, which are expected to be implemented across England by 2019, recommend that doctors, nurses and other health professionals ask about sexual orientation during “every face to face contact with the patient, where no record of this data already exists.”

People who identity as LGB can face different health risks from people who identify as heterosexual.

According to the LGBT Foundation, it’s thought that LGB people are at significantly higher risk of mental health problems, suicidal thoughts and deliberate self-harm than heterosexual people.

Patients are free to decline to answer, and in these cases their sexuality will be listed as ‘Not Stated’.

An NHS spokesperson explained;

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. 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.”

The new guidelines have been welcomed by LGBT charity Stonewall, who also urged NHS England to extend them to trans and non-binary patients.

We have been calling for sexual orientation to be considered as other protected characteristics for over a decade. This move will also help health services gather evidence on and understand the needs of LGB people. We’d also like to see NHS England introduce similar gender identity monitoring for trans and non-binary patients where appropriate. We look forward to working with NHS England on these issues in the future.”

High Court Rules The NHS Must Fund HIV-Prevention Drug

A leading HIV charity has won one of the most important motions in UK medicine.

In a ground-breaking ruling, the High Court has decided to allow the NHS in England to fund HIV-prevention drug pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

The ruling was a victory for the National Aids Trust (NAT), which brought the case to court after NHS England refused to commission a large scale role for PrEP.

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Mr Justice Green ruled that NHS England “has erred in deciding that it has no power or duty to commission the preventative drugs in issue”

The “game-changing” anti-retroviral drug acts as a barrier to HIV when the virus is transmitted and could prevent some of the 4,000 people who obtain HIV every year in the UK. The highly-effective drug can now be prescribed to residents in England under the NHS after the National Aids Trust (NAT) won its court battle today (August 2).

The drug, when used consistently and regularly can cut the chances of contracting HIV by up to 90% – a claim that many who are at high risk (men who have sex with men, sex workers and those who inject drugs) of transmission will relish in.

Though the NHS were before convinced they had no legal duty to fund the drug, the case’s judge, Mr Justice Green, sitting in London ruled that NHS England “has erred in deciding that it has no power or duty to commission the preventative drugs in issue”.

Previously legal advisers to the NHS claimed it was the responsibility of local councils to provide preventative treatments for those at high risk of HIV.

However campaigners have pushed that, as well as gay men using condoms to prevent infection, there is an “ethical duty” for PrEP to be available.

In response to this progressive new ruling, NAT’s chief executive Deborah Gold said:

This is fantastic news. It is vindication for the many people who were let down when NHS England absolved itself of responsibility for PrEP. The judgment has confirmed our view that it is perfectly lawful for NHS England to commission PrEP. Now NHS England must do just that.

Over 4,000 people are getting HIV every year in the UK – we desperately need further prevention options to add to condom use. PrEP works. It saves money and it will make an enormous difference to the lives of men and women across the country who are at risk of acquiring HIV. The delay to commissioning PrEP is both unethical and expensive.”

As it stands, 103,000 people are living with HIV in the UK. However, when PrEP comes into mainstream use and becomes a regular for gay and bisexual men and sex workers, we could eventually see the number of Brits diagnosed curbed significantly and the fight against HIV won.