LGBT+ experiences of healthcare services

Healthwatch Darlington wanted to understand the experiences encountered by the LGBT+ community, and how these experiences impact how the LGBT+ community use healthcare services. They worked with Arcus, a counselling and social support service, primarily developed for LGBT+ people, to develop survey which would provide a snapshot of experiences of health and care services in Darlington. 78 people took part in the survey which was supported by Arcus helping to distribute both online and hard copies in the community.

There isn’t a a consistent healthcare service offering for LGBT+ people. People said that it depends upon healthcare professionals encountered whether the experience is positive or negative. Training and education of healthcare professionals was identified as important in providing more empathic practices and encouraging those who need support to go to the healthcare professionals who can help them.

There was a consensus that whilst progress had been made with HIV awareness, there was more that could be done in terms of education that would encourage those who needed to be tested to attend testing.

There was support for maternity services to be made more accessible with the use of inclusive language, helping those who need maternity care to feel supported and understood at this important time in their lives.

The general advice from survey participants was that more training around inclusivity, more respectful communication, awareness of differing needs, and compassion rather than judgement were the key areas that would benefit healthcare providers. More accessible information and services around sexual health were also called upon to improve the service offering to the LGBT+ community. Concerns about being misgendered were often raised throughout the survey.

The report contains three recommendations about staff training, improving awareness of HIV testing and using inclusive language in maternity services.