A scheme aimed at fostering inclusivity for LGBTQ+ people in NHS secondary care settings has lost its government funding.
The NHS rainbow badge programme was launched in 2018 at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital by consultant paediatrician Michael Farquhar and communications manager Jessica Law.1
As the programme expanded across England it was taken on by a partnership of the Association of LGBTQ+Doctors and Dentists (GLADD), LGBT+ Consortium, the LGBT Foundation, Stonewall, and Switchboard in 2021.
The partnership ran the rainbow badge programme as an accreditation scheme for trusts, supporting them to review their policies and look at how they were meeting the needs of LGBTQ+ patients and staff. Trusts that got accreditation were able to …