Hello, this is 999… what pronoun do you need? Emergency responders are warned to ask callers what they want to be called rather than ‘misinterpreting’ them based on their voice

NHS 999 operators have been told to ask callers their preferred pronouns to avoid being misinterpreted based on the sound of their voice.

Call center staff should also not use Mr. or Mrs., with one ambulance trust stating that preferred pronouns should be sought even in emergency situations so that the experience is less stressful for trans patients.

Others say that gender of birth is often irrelevant to care, so operators can use the patient’s self-identified gender.

The policy could be unveiled today in the second part of an investigation into the spread of the controversial gender ideology in the NHS.

As the Daily Mail reported last week, hospital funds are admitting patients who only occasionally identify as women to women-only wards. Maternity staff also refer to ‘people giving birth’ instead of women and mothers.

Lottie Moore, of the Policy Exchange think tank, said: “It’s ridiculous to expect anyone to think about preferred pronouns in a 999 health crisis.”

The MoS asked the nine NHS ambulance trusts in England if they had specific guidelines for handling calls from transgender people.

North East Ambulance Service has provided a staff document on ‘How to best support our gender diverse patients’. It advises that a patient’s gender “has no bearing on someone who has a toothache, for example,” so the gender they identify as can be used.

It adds: ‘It is not for us to ask questions about gender identity at birth unless it is appropriate for the clinical assessment.’

Staff are told to pass the call on to a doctor if ‘gender makes triage difficult’. But it goes on to say, “No one can reliably diagnose gender from the tone or pitch of a voice or from a name. Therefore, adopt a gender-neutral attitude at the beginning of a conversation.

“Eliminating gender terms such as Mr. or Mrs. … avoids the accidental misgendering. Asking someone’s pronouns is a… non-intrusive way to determine gender.”

South East Coast Ambulance Service says asking for pronouns can be more effective. The guideline states, “Inappropriate pronouns cause stress and can make an already difficult situation worse.”

It highlights the problem of trans women being “unable to raise the pitch of their voice,” warning that operators often “form a strong mental perception of the caller’s gender status from the first few words spoken and this will create a gender – specific response that may be inappropriate in the case of a trans woman’.

South Central Ambulance Service guidelines tell staff, “Regardless of the tone of a person’s voice, we should not assume gender or refer to a patient by assumed gender (Mr. or Ms.).”

Last night, the North East Ambulance Service said staff should “treat everyone with respect, patience, sensitivity and without bias.”

It added: ‘It is not for us to ask questions about someone’s gender identity, but sometimes it is appropriate and necessary for our clinical assessment, and we provide appropriate training to support triage of transgender and non-binary patients.

“Our triage is no different when it comes to an emergency or when gender has no bearing on a patient’s condition.” South East Coast Ambulance Service said: ‘This question wouldn’t delay our response…it’s about making sure we respect people’s personal pronouns.’

South Central Ambulance Service said: ‘We take the needs and preferences of all patients and the medical concerns they call about very seriously. We do this with dignity, respect, empathy and without judgment to give them the best and most appropriate care based on their clinical need.”

“Thinking about pronouns in a 999 emergency is ridiculous”