Require the use of sexed language in government-funded health communications

Require the terms woman, girl and mother be used in their sexed meanings of adult female person, female child and female parent in government-funded healthcare groups and communications including policy and guidance documents, legislation and public health communications.

The Women's Health Strategy for England says sex-specific language should be used 'to communicate matters that relate to women’s and men’s individual health issues, and their different biological needs. However, that increasingly communications of all kinds related to women's health in the UK are being desexed. We believe this goes against well-established principles of health communication and risks confusion, inappropriate inclusion, and miscommunication and so undermines women's health and rights.

The NHS is for the people. It is founded on a common set of principles and values that bind together the communities and people it serves.

Communication and use of language are important when meeting the needs and preferences of patients – and speaking in plain English is an important part of being inclusive for all patients. The government and the NHS know the importance of using accurate and factual language in relation to biological sex as part of health communications. The Department of Health and Social Care’s longstanding position is that health information should be as clear as possible and language should be used that appropriately reflects sex as defined as a protected characteristic in the Equality Act 2010.

The NHS is there for everyone and while speaking in plain English ensures clarity for patients, there will be occasions when NHS service providers want to specifically acknowledge patients with differing characteristics, including the transgender community. This may mean that Trusts and providers decide to use additive language (such as “women and trans men”) to ensure health communications reach the largest audience. However, the government acknowledges that there have been instances when an attempt to be inclusive has resulted in muddled language, which moves away from the primary requirement to speak in plain accessible English. The government is committed to working with NHS England to ensure we continue to find the right balance.

The government therefore welcomes the clarity the Supreme Court judgement on the 16 April 2025 in the For Women Scotland Ltd vs The Scottish Ministers case brings. The government, along with the independent watchdog, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), are working through the implications of the judgement to implement the changes required. In particular, the EHRC is working to develop a new statutory Code of Practice in light of the judgement.