Extended use of facemasks and face coverings guidance in hospitals, primary care and wider community healthcare settings (referred to as 'Healthcare settings'): Equality Impact Assessment

Sexual Orientation

1. Background

Research conducted early in the pandemic by the LGBT Foundation examined the impact of COVID-19 on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people across the UK^[55]. Key issues identified included mental health; isolation; substance misuse; eating disorders; living in unsafe environments; financial impact; homelessness; access to healthcare; and access to support.

2. Evidence / Date – Related to Healthcare Settings

Patients in healthcare settings:

Figure 6. A graph showing responses to a health survey sent out to those registered to a GP. The breakdown shows the self-reported sexual orientation of the 130,352 people who responded. 96% of people identified as ‘heterosexual/ straight’, 2% as ‘gay/lesbian’, 1% as ‘bisexual’ and 1% as ‘other’. It is important to acknowledge only 24% of those sent the survey replied, it does however give a rough insight into service users in Scotland.

Staff in healthcare settings:

According to NHS staff respondents to iMatter 2022^[57], when it asked, “Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation?”, 88% responded as ‘straight/heterosexual’, 2% responded as ‘gay or lesbian’, 1% responded as ‘bisexual’, 1% ‘preferred to self-describe’ and 7% provided no answer.

Visitors to healthcare settings:

Currently there is a lack of data around the demographic breakdown of visitors to healthcare settings however, we have used general population data to support equality impact assessment.

It is assumed that most people will access healthcare settings at some point in the year. The proportion of the UK population aged 16 years and over identifying as heterosexual or straight decreased from 94.6% in 2019 to 93.7% in 2019. Between 2018 and 2019, the proportion of people who identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) increased for Scotland (2.7%, up from 2.0%). An estimated 1.4 million people aged 16 and over in the UK identified as LGB in 2019 - a statistically significant increase from 1.2 million in 2018. People aged 16 to 24 continue to be the most likely to identify as LGB, however the proportion of older adults identifying as LGB, while much smaller, is also increasing^[58].

3. Impact Summary – Related to Healthcare Settings

Does the withdrawal of the extended use of facemask guidance in healthcare settings have a positive or negative impact on people as result of Sexual Orientation?

There is no evidence to suggest that individuals working, engaging with or visiting Healthcare settings are adversely affected by the withdrawal of this guidance as a result of their sexual orientation.

It is important to emphasise that the use of face masks will still be in place in healthcare settings if they are required clinically or as a result of outbreak/ incident management.