How To Support Your Transgender Staff & Patients

“Everyone's transition journey is different, and they might want and expect different things. So, it's about finding out from your colleague what support they would like in place.”

Claire and George are back with another educative and compassionate vlog. Today, they will be giving their advice for employers wanting to support their transgender colleagues, as well as what they can do to ensure high standards of care for transgender patients.

Claire:

Hi everyone, my name is Claire Blake, formerly known as Claire Carmichael, and I'm a Registered Nurse lecturer.

George:

Hi everyone, I'm George Blake. I am Claire's husband, and I'm a very proud trans man, and I'm helping out doing these videos to get a patient's perspective, like I said, as I am transgender. So, it gives you that bit more of an insight.

Claire:

And today's video is our top tips and advice especially for employers to help with your transgender patients.

George: Or colleagues.

What Can Employers Do To Help Treat Transgender Patients Better?

Claire:

So, what can employers do to help treat transgender patients better?

So firstly, you should be treating all of your patients as equals. It doesn't matter what race, gender, sexuality they are. Everyone should be treated with the same equality, same dignity, as everybody else.

George:

My perspective is, if you are dealing with a transgender patient and you know they are transgender, please use their preferred pronouns, preferred name, and also be mindful that some trans men or non-binary people that are presenting more masculine may be wearing a binder.

So, if you do need to be physical with that patient and put your hands on to, I don't know, check an area, just let them know that you're going to do that, and if they are comfortable with that, because that is a very... We don't like people touching us there when we're binding or anything.

It's just about being mindful that, if you have got a transgender patient, just make sure that you tell them what you're going to be doing, don't just surprise them and just start putting your hands on them.

Claire:

And we should be doing that for anyone, anyway. We always get fully informed consent and talk to the patient before we do anything like that.

But there might be times where you're in a rush, you're trying to do things, you just say to someone, "I'm going to do an ECG." The patient might not know what an ECG is or what's going to happen. So, it's talking them through it step by step, to make sure that they're comfortable with the placement of the ECG leads, because obviously you're going to be going onto the chest area, and just making sure you're providing that patient with the same dignity as anybody else.

As an employer, you could also have some sort of policy or guideline around transgender patients as well. I know at my place where I work, at the university, we've got loads of different documentations.

We've also got a really good e-learning training package as well set up for people, so that you can have that education and that awareness, because sometimes people just don't know. They haven't had the training; they haven't had the education on how to treat a trans patient.

And it sounds silly, because we should be treating everybody the same anyway regardless, but things like the use of pronouns, like we've just discussed, body dysphoria, things like that would be really, really useful for people to understand more, to help educate them, which then will hopefully have a knock-on effect and give the best care possible to that patient.

So have a look at setting up some sort of guideline, some sort of policy around it, and get an e-learning package put in place for your staff to help train them.

Everyone's transition journey is different, and they might want and expect different things. So, it's about finding out from your colleague what support they would like in place.

How Can You Help Protect Transgender Staff From Discrimination?

Claire:

So, next we'd like to talk about how you can help protect staff from discrimination. So firstly, the Equality Act 2010. If you don't already know by now, transgender people are protected under the Equality Act 2010, regardless of if they've started hormones or had any surgeries, they're still protected. Just like race is protected, sexuality, sex, marriage, all of the rest of the protected characteristics; they are protected just like anybody else.

George:

For me, on a personal level, I have been discriminated at work before, not at the job that I'm in now, but previously.

I’m at the age where I was comfortable enough to go to my manager, they were very aware of my transition, and I educated them on what was going to happen with me, with my journey, and they were nothing but supportive.

But for people that don't have the confidence to go to their manager straight away and call it out, if you have colleagues and friends that know about it, take them with you for support.

I can't stress that enough, it is a lot about support. I got a lot of support from my work and some of my other colleagues as well that didn't appreciate what this individual was doing to me. So, it's just about getting that support around you, if you're not confident going on your own, and to any other colleagues as well that might hear it, call it out. Say, "I don't agree with that," and report it yourself. We rely on you, really.

Claire:

Yep. And you're quite lucky, to be fair because your management team were really good, weren't they?

George:

They were.

Claire:

Really supportive, and they put things in place to help George, which was nice to see, from my perspective.

But again, like we were just saying about education and training staff, hopefully that'll help avoid discrimination, but also having a policy in place for your trans colleagues as well, and having different things in place, like thinking about changing rooms if you've got changing facilities at work, toilet situations, things like that, having more gender-neutral toilets. Putting little things like that in place can hopefully help avoid the discrimination.

And like George was saying, if you hear it yourself, just speak to the person, educate them if they haven't got that education and that awareness and they don't know that they're doing things wrong. Because sometimes we slip up and we make mistakes, we misgender by mistake sometimes. We're all human. But if someone is actively causing harm to somebody, it's not good. We need to be calling that out and putting support in place for the colleague.

And also ask the person what support they would like because everyone's different. Everyone's transition journey is different, and they might want and expect different things. So, it's about finding out from your colleague, from your employee, what support they would like in place to help avoid discrimination and help support them through their journey as well.

If you have got any transgender employees that you know of, let them know that they are loved… We want to try and turn the narrative and stop spreading hate, and just spread love.

What Can Employers Do To Improve Equality & Equity In The Workplace?

Claire:

So, what can you do as an employer to help improve equality and equity within the workplace?

George:

So, for me, I think this is quite important. So, for instance, we're in Pride month at the minute. Go out and celebrate Pride month, talk to LGBTQ+ people. Do workshops within your workplace. There's Transgender Awareness Week, there's Transgender Remembrance Day.

There are loads of different things that people can go out and look at themselves, and just be absolutely amazed. Go to your first Pride event. A lot of people haven't been to Pride. We took my mom to her first Pride last year.

Claire:

She loved it.

George:

And she was absolutely blown away with how happy and how family orientated it is. There's a lot of misconception about that, but it is a very family friendly place. It's all about love and just accepting everyone's differences, regardless of religion, race, sexuality, gender.

And it's just about building that support network. The more you go out and start looking it for yourself, the more you get an understanding. And when you hear some nasty stuff that happens, you won't be afraid to call it out, because you know we're good people.

Claire:

Yep. And also at these events, they've got so many different places and people there, like they've put pop-up tents and things like that for loads of information and things, so you can get a load of really good resources from going to Pride events as well, to put in place in your workplace, like different contact numbers, support groups, that sort of thing.

There's so much out there to support transgender patients and colleagues specifically, it's just amazing. You don't realize how much support there is. You just need to look for it and find it.

Also, just another tip, teams in general are usually really diverse. You'll have different races, different ethnicities, different sexualities, different genders. So come together to celebrate each other, take advice from each other. I don't know half the things about people out there and different races and ethnicities and different religions, for example. So, I would learn from the people themselves, because that's the best thing you can do.

Coming together, having different maybe events at work, some workshops, like George was saying, different workshops you could have, where you could all learn from each other about each other's histories and cultures and how to support each other, could just be an amazing thing I think to do in a workplace, to make everyone feel equal and valued.

And also have a look at different awareness days. Cause there's so many different awareness days throughout the whole year, not just for transgender people, but LGBT groups, races, different health conditions. There's so many out there. Just have a little look and maybe put on some little events. Go to events that are around the country as well, and just get more awareness, and that will hopefully make people feel included as well.

What Can Employers Do To Attract More Transgender Staff?

Claire:

And lastly, what can employers do to help attract more transgender staff? Any thoughts?

George:

So, for me, from the get-go, in the application, put transgender, non-binary in there. What are your preferred pronouns? What is your preferred name? Do it from the get-go before they even step foot into that building.

Because then for instance, if I saw that, I'd be like, "Oh my god, that they're so accepting." Like the other day we went swimming, and there was an... It went through all the... It said male, then it said transgender, non-binary.

Claire:

It had all the options on the dropdown menu.

George:

And that instantly, in my head, made me think they're accepting of everybody. That's a safe place. So if you can do that from the get-go, that will have a big impact.

And then it's just, when you get that person through the door, just show them that you're accepting, that you are willing to fight their corner, because it's one thing getting a job, but then having people that you know are behind you 100% and are not going to ask inappropriate questions, or ask what your dead name was or anything like that, it's just all about making that positive first initial point of contact, I think, that will draw people in.

Claire:

And I've seen, as well a lot of different application forms out there, especially for race, they have a little... I don't know whether this is a good tip or not personally, but on their application form it'll say, "We especially welcome people from diverse backgrounds, different races, ethnic minorities, things like that," to make it more inclusive, I suppose, in a way.

I don't know if that's a right thing to do or not, but I think it's just one of those extra things that you could add to your application forms to make it stand out that you are inclusive. But like George was saying, there's no point in recruiting people if you haven't got the tools to help support them in place. So, make sure that all that's in place to help support someone that is transgender, rather than just saying, "We just want to tick a box to say that we're LGBTQIA+ inclusive."

George:

For instance, me as a trans man with my old workplace, I had to let them know that I would have to be going off work for surgery. And they put so much support in place for me to have those... How long it took? Six weeks or something?

Claire:

Eight...

George:

Or was it longer? Eight weeks I had off work because of surgery. And they didn't bombard me, they was just asking if I was okay, if I needed extra support. When I came back to work, having light duties. It's just putting those things in place to show that you care about your employer and what they're going through.

If they're having a bad moment... Because trans men still do have periods, believe it or not. And I know that's a taboo thing to say. Making sure there's a toilet for them to go to. Because it...

Claire:

Having sanitary projects as well, in both male and female toilets for people. That was a good tip. I can't remember who told me that tip, but someone told me that tip, and I thought actually, that's a really good point.

George:

Make sure there's a sanitary bin in a unisex toilet, just so as a trans person, they know they can go there if they are still having their cycle.

Claire:

So, any final thoughts that you can advise employers out there?

George:

So, for me, if you have got any transgender employees that you know of, let them know that they are loved. I can't tell you how scary it is to be transgender right now. There is a lot of hate, and it is very mentally draining.

I have to keep coming off social media myself because of the amount of stuff that I see on Twitter, Instagram, the lot, of how much hate is out there, and it can get too much.

So, I just beg you, if you are friends with transgender people, just let them know they are loved, please. We want to try and turn the narrative and stop spreading hate, and just spread love. That's what I'd say, because it is really hard at the minute.

Claire:

Just be kind. Be kind to everybody.

George:

Yeah. We all bleed the same.

Claire:

So, thank you, everybody. I hope that's been helpful. If you've got any comments or questions or anything that you want to ask any of us, drop a comment below and we will reply to you.

Thank you and goodbye.

George:

Bye.

You can watch Claire and George’s previous vlog here.