About the NHS Rainbow Badges Programme:
Originally, the Rainbow NHS Badge was developed and led from Evelina London’s Children Hospital – part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust by Dr Michael Farquhar. The Rainbow Badge initiative was created to be a way for NHS staff to demonstrate that they are aware of the issues that LGBT+ people can face when accessing healthcare. NHS England have since commissioned a collaboration, consisting of LGBT Foundation, Stonewall, the LGBT Consortium, Switchboard and GLADD, to develop and deliver the NHS Rainbow Badges Assessment.
This assessment accreditation model allows Trusts to demonstrate their commitment to reducing barriers to healthcare for LGBT+ people, whilst evidencing the good work they have already undertaken. Different areas are assessed as part of this, including policies, workforce inclusion, clinical service provision, leadership, as well as reviewing staff and patient surveys. The information from all aspects of the assessment process is reviewed and the Trust receives an award reflecting their current LGBT+ inclusion work. This will be either Initial Stage, Bronze, Silver or Gold.
About the Bronze Award:
During this process the Trust evidenced an existing commitment to LGBT+ inclusion across the workforce and has taken effective steps to tackle some of the healthcare barriers for LGBT+ patients. The Trust is now able to engage in meaningful next steps to expand on this work and further build on their LGBT+ inclusion.