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The National LGBT Survey indicated that LGBTQ+ populations across England often face inequalities in accessing healthcare services and report negative experiences of healthcare services compared to non-LGBTQ+ populations. These inequalities include discrimination, a lack of understanding from healthcare professionals, and barriers to accessing appropriate care.
At a national level, over one in eight LGBTQ+ people (13%) reported experiencing unequal treatment from healthcare staff because of their LGBTQ+ identity, and one in four people experienced discrimination from healthcare professionals. Therefore, in response, in July 2025 the NHS launched its first ever review to tackle health inequalities among LGBTQ+ communities. This aimed to understand the barriers to accessing healthcare, poorer experiences, outcomes, and patient safety. Additionally, as a national quality improvement initiative, the NHS has introduced a Rainbow Badge programme, which aims to strengthen LGBTQ+ inclusion by supporting workforce development and creating visibly inclusive healthcare environments.
To gain a local understanding of the issues being reviewed by the NHS nationally, we spoke to 141 people at Ashford and Medway Pride events in June 2024 and June 2025. The main question we asked was: “Do you feel that your gender or sexuality makes a difference to the care you receive?” This was to understand their experiences in health and social care settings.
The main themes identified were:
1 in 3 (34%) of those that we engaged with told us that they felt their care is impacted by their gender/sexuality. This is greater than the national average.
Negative experiences were highest among individuals who preferred to self-describe their sexuality (12 responses, 100%), compared to gay/lesbian respondents, which was 63% (30), suggesting that services may struggle most with identities outside familiar categories.
By gender identity, feedback was negative for both those whose sex identity was the same as their birth (63%) and those whose identity differed (68%).
Appearance and perceived gender expression influence how seriously people feel they are treated by healthcare professionals.
“Yes, I think it does. I am non-binary, but I appear masculine, so I seem to be dismissed less, but my partner has been dismissed and ignored.”
The above statement is supported by a scoping review, where women who identify as transgender face more discrimination than a gay man who appears more masculine in prison settings. This indicates gender-based discrimination in accessing services.
The fundamental principle of the NHS promises that care will be given to everyone irrespective of their sex, gender assignment, race, and other protected characteristics, as well as treating people irrespective of their ability to pay. This is further emphasised by the Health and Social Care Act 2012, which puts a legal duty on organisations to treat people with equity by reducing inequalities. Health inequalities are driven by the social and economic conditions in which people are born, live, work, and age, which affect how they access and experience NHS services. However, the fact that 1 in 3 LGBTQ+ individuals within Kent and Medway feel they have been discriminated against, raises concerns about whether these legal and constitutional commitments are being fully met in practice.
We’ll be out and about talking to people at Ashford and Medway pride to gather further experiences this summer. We’ll then analyse the data across both years to gain a deeper understanding into what people are telling us and publish our findings.
Bias and limitations
Residents we spoke to were those who were available and willing to speak to us at the time and location of each engagement event. Therefore, the sample is not representative of the LGBTQ+ population as a whole. These findings should be interpreted as indicative trends rather than conclusive evidence.
