A new research note published by Policy Exchange exposes serious issues with ‘allyship schemes’ which have become commonplace across the NHS – with materials promoting gender ideology on display in multiple prominent locations at the Royal Free Hospital – a major NHS teaching hospital in London.

It reveals that:

• Noticeboards at the Royal Free, authored by members of the ‘LGBTQ+ & Friends Network’, make the absurd claim that staff should not ask patients their name, thus contradicting regulatory guidance from the General Medical Council
• Another notice cites a survey conducted by Stonewall from 2018, claiming that “1 in 5 LGBT+ people are not out to any healthcare professionals regarding the [sic] sexual orientation when seeking medical attention”. It is not clear why – in almost all cases – it would be appropriate to disclose sexual orientation to a medical professional when seeking ‘general medical care’ unless it was your express personal choice to do so or if it was of clinical relevance.