The NHS has ended an LGBT diversity programme after the charity leading it claimed there was a “lack of funding”.
Hospitals of the NHS Rainbow Badge scheme were rated either gold, silver or bronze after being assessed on how they treat LGBT patients.
The scheme began in 2018 as part of a smaller programme that gave out rainbow badges to staff in a bid to be more inclusive before expanding to the rating system in 2021.
Matt Hancock was a supporter of the scheme when it began and wore a rainbow badge throughout the pandemic while he was Health Secretary to Boris Johnson.
NHS Rainbow Badge
NHS
LGBT Foundation, which leads the scheme, said in a statement yesterday that a lack of funding was to blame for the programme’s end.
Over the course of the programme, the NHS Rainbow Badge was delivered by a number of LGBT charities including Stonewall and has worked with 77 trusts across England.
However, Stonewall said that its involvement in the scheme “came to a natural end” last year.
The LGBT Foundation also said that while “the focus outside of the project has been on diversity initiatives and the use of language”, the programme had contributed to the NHS’ “overall success, suitability, and cost-effectiveness”.
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Matt Hancock wearing NHS LGBT badge
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The NHS Rainbow Badge scheme’s end comes as councils have been urged to axe diversity programmes and funnel money towards frontline social care.
It also comes after it was discovered that NHS bosses were splurging £40million a year on “woke diversity non-jobs” that could have been used to pay for 1,500 more nurses, according to the Daily Express.
Professor Karol Sikora, an ex-World Health Organisation cancer chief, said: “Every single penny should be put directly into the pockets of frontline staff.
“More medical professionals should be standing up to this lunacy, even if it results in some unpleasant insults.”
NHS Rainbow Badge
NHS
Benjamin Elks of the TaxPayers’ Alliance echoed Sikora’s comments, adding: “Taxpayers will be furious at the health service blowing millions on woke non-jobs.
“While waiting lists spiral, poverty-pleading trusts should be directing all available resources to frontline care.
“It’s time for the health service to prioritise patients over political correctness.”
Figures attained by The Daily Express via Freedom of Information requests show that each NHS trust surveyed employs three Equality, Diversity and Inclusion personnel on annual salaries of £46,847.67.
