The Scottish Census 2022 [data published in 2024] calculates that 4% of the adult population is Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual or '+' [the + standing for 'other' sexual orientation, which is not a category recognised in the Equality Act 2010].
The last time Equality Here, Now checked the performance of the NHS in Scotland as an employer in delivering equality for LGB people was in 2024.
What emerged from this sampling of the employee data gathered and published by Boards was:
· There is no uniformity across all Boards on how they are gathering data, resulting in the lack of a coherent national workforce profile on employees by sexual orientation
· A third of the national workforce does not want to reveal their sexual orientation to their employer
· Because the Census 2022 decided to gather data on 'Gay/Lesbian' rather than 'Gay' or 'Lesbian', it is not possible for Boards who have gathered data on employees who identify as 'Lesbian' to use the Census 2022 to evidence that their workforce profile is discrimination-free for employees who identify as 'Lesbian'.
· Boards who are gathering data on employees and offering 'other' as an option for sexual orientation, and then publishing the data, are creating the impression that this cohort of employees is somehow protected under the Equality Act 2010. They are not.
Until such times as Boards and government sort out the data gathering confusion [caused by adopting guidance from the ONS and Chief Statistician] on the sexual orientation of employees, then the NHS will be unable to deliver evidence of a discrimination-free workplace.
Equality Here, Now has researched the performance of the NHS in Scotland as an employer of LGB people over a number of years, and the journey from then until now can be uncovered in the research reports published in 2019, 2017, 2015, and 2013.