February is LGBT+ History Month.
We are celebrating the month across SHSC and the theme this year is particularly poignant as it recognises the important contribution to the fields of medicine and healthcare - both historically and in the present day - made by LGBTQ+ people.
To mark LGBT+ History Month, head of equality and inclusion, Liz Johnson has written a blog about her experiences. Liz is also a member of the Rainbow Staff Network group.
The 2024 theme of LGBT+ History month is celebrating the contribution of LGBTQ+ people to the field of medicine and healthcare. It is also an opportunity to shine a light on the history of the LGBTQ+ community’s experience of receiving healthcare.
This theme made me think about how things were back in the 1980s.
I started my nurse training in 1983 and qualified as a registered nurse in 1987. At that time I was ‘in the closet’ at work and not ‘out’ to my family and this was the case for a number of my LGB nursing colleagues and friends.
One incident has always stayed with me. A friend who was doing their nurse training was involved in a serious accident which left them in critical care. Their partner at the time was refused access to visit them because only ‘family’ were allowed to visit. I cannot imagine how it would feel for my partner to be in a critical condition in hospital but not be able to visit them because I was not accepted as their family.
At the moment as an organisation, we are looking at our equality priorities for the next four years. Something that has been an issue for a long time now is the low number of people using our services who have been asked about their sexual orientation as part of their service user record. This is important if we think person-centred care is important. It is also about giving people the opportunity to let us know about themselves and who is important to them in their lives.
