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Lesbian and bisexual women are at a much greater risk of suicide, self-harm and heavy drug and alcohol use than straight women, according to the greatest ever health survey for queer women in the UK.

Many lesbian and bisexual women are also being refused treatment or given incorrect health information by the National Health Service (NHS).

6,000 lesbian and bisexual women took part in the Prescription for Change report, making it the largest ever survey of its kind in the UK.

The results suggest that health services are failing to identify specific healthcare needs among Britain’s 1.8 million lesbian population. They are also failing to address specific mental health needs that many women still experience as a result of discrimination.

Some of the statistics from the survey:

• One in five (20%) lesbian and bisexual women have deliberately harmed themselves in the last year, compared to 0.4 per cent of the general population
• Lesbian and bisexual women are five times more likely to take recreational drugs than heterosexual women
• 40% drink three times a week, compared to 25% of heterosexual women

The survey also revealed shocking statistics about lesbian and bisexual teenagers:

• Young lesbian and bisexual women are 10 times more likely to have self-harmed than heterosexual teenagers
• Half of women under 20 have self-harmed, compared to one in fifteen of teenagers generally
• Lesbian and bisexual women under 20 years old are eight times more likely to have attempted suicide compared than heterosexual teenagers

NHS discrimination

Discrimination against lesbian and bisexual people in the delivery of public services has been illegal since 2007, yet half of respondents still report having had negative experiences in the health sector in the last year.

• One in 50 lesbian and bisexual women have been refused a cervical smear test
• 15% of lesbian and bisexual women over 25 - almost double the number of women in general - have never had a cervical smear test
• One in five women who have not had a cervical smear test have been told, wrongly, by healthcare practitioners that they are not at risk

“This vital new intelligence provides a wake-up call to healthcare practitioners across the country,” said Ruth Hunt, Stonewall Head of Policy and Research. “It also demonstrates that hundreds of thousands of lesbian and bisexual women feel highly uncomfortable when engaging with the NHS.

“Women who are deterred from visiting their GP, or coming out to them, are less likely to be treated early and appropriately with inevitably higher costs for the NHS when accurate diagnosis finally takes place,” added Hunt.

Ben Summerskill, Stonewall Chief Executive, said: ‘Lesbian and gay taxpayers fund 60,000 posts within the NHS. What lesbian and bisexual women have revealed should disturb any healthcare practitioner and encourage the NHS to take their statutory obligations towards these women more seriously.”

Summerskill contined, “This report also provides compelling evidence that the current duty on health services to provide equality of treatment on grounds of gender, ethnicity and disability should be extended to sexual orientation.”

The report includes ten key recommendations for the NHS to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery for lesbian and bisexual patients. “We trust that ministers will take this report seriously and start pushing service providers across the NHS to address some of the very stark evidence of differential service delivery revealed by this research,” said Summerskill.

Posted in: Campaigns & Politics, Community, Health |