Becoming a Rainbow Department
To celebrate LGBT History Month in February, Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s Finance Department led the way by becoming a Rainbow Badge Department!
The finance team undertook training around the issues that LGBT+ people face in healthcare and the badges are just one way that the team show that they work in an open, non-judgemental and inclusive place for people that identify as LGBT+.
The badges have been made in collaboration with Stonewall, a British charity that campaigns for equality for LGBT+ people.
It was very interesting to learn about patient experiences, some still very recent, and the issues different members of the LGBTQ+ community face. I found the stories around Trans patients with dementia particularly powerful.
Director of Finance, Simon Holden, said: “It was genuinely quite educational, as the evidence of discrimination was all fairly recent. Therefore, it was quite disturbing to listen to, and reflect upon, but equally positive that we were tackling this issue together, and collectively.”
The training was kindly carried out by Sophie Hunter of Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
We have attached a copy of the training as well as some useful information, the following videos also refer to pronouns:
You can also check out our workshop from the NHS Finance Inclusion event in May: