Doctors and staff at Great Ormond Street Children’s hospital have been ordered not to use the terms “boys” and “girls”.
Workers at the hospital have been urged to “stop using gendered language” in conversation with patients, as it could make them feel “disrespected and alienated”.
Staff have been advised to use more gender-neutral terms such as “team”, “all”, or “everyone”.
Guidance issued by the hospital is pushing for workers to use these terms, instead of more typically used words, such as “guys”, “ladies” and “gents”, the Telegraph reported.
The guidance was written by LGBT staff members
PAThe new advice has been published on the staff’s intranet by the hospital’s Diversity and Inclusion team and Pride Network, however it is understood not to be part of the hospital’s official policy.
It was written by members of its LGBT community to help staff address children and fellow employees correctly.
Employees are being encouraged to read it to “understand more about others’ pronouns and how you can be an ally”.
Great Ormand Street staff have been told not to make assumptions about people’s gender and should instead explicitly ask what pronouns people use.
The guidance, titled “Using Pronouns at GOSH”, also encourages staff to use the correct pronouns for colleagues, as well as patients.
The hospital has stressed that the guide is not official policy, however it is easily accessible on the intranet site.
Critics of the guidance have said that the hospital is making workers adopt new language that could negatively affect children.
Lottie Moore, part of the think tank Policy Exchange, said: “It is deeply concerning that the UK’s leading children’s hospital is pressuring staff to adopt beliefs that are highly contentious and potentially damaging to children’s long-term wellbeing.
“A hospital dedicated to caring for vulnerable children is no place for lectures on gender identity – especially as these beliefs are not evidence-based. It is time for the NHS to crack down on this madness.”
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The hospital has said the guidance is not part of official hospital policy but is available on the staff's intranet
PAHowever, the hospital believes the guidance could create a positive and inclusive work environment.
“We want all of our staff at GOSH to feel welcome and included at work in an environment that respects them for who they are, as well as the job they do,” a hospital spokesperson said.
“Anyone discriminating against another individual on the basis of race, gender, sexuality or any other protected characteristic will be addressed via our official Dignity at Work policy.”
The document’s publication comes after Health Secretary Steven Barclay ordered an investigation in February into national guidelines which instructed NHS staff to consider all patients as gender-neutral.
The guide tells doctors and nurses to avoid phrases such as “Mr” and “Mrs”, and “he” and “she”, until the patient has stated their gender identity.
Researchers were given a £164,964 taxpayer funded grant to investigate how health workers could improve their communication with LGBT patients.
