Mother of trans daughter launches legal campaign in wake of changes to NHS guidance

Content warning: This article includes mention of transphobia, illness, grief and loss. 

A mother whose daughter passed away in 2023 has launched a campaign with Trans Legal Clinic against NHS England, Wolverhampton NHS Trust, and Bart NHS Trust, claiming her daughter missed out on much-needed treatment due to her gender identity. Jane is calling for justice for her daughter Joelle, who was fighting an aggressive lymphoma that she believed to be “almost always curable when treated as a medical emergency,” explains the information outlined in Jane’s Trans Legal Clinic campaign. The call for justice comes in the wake of changes to NHS guidance regarding single-sex wards.

The updated guidance outlines that: “In line with the Supreme Court’s judgment in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, which clarified the meaning of sex in the Equality Act 2010, the code of practice says that single-sex services, such as hospital accommodation, should be provided on the basis of ‘biological sex’.”

It adds: “Every patient has the right to receive high-quality care when they are admitted to hospital. Ensuring that an individual’s clinical needs are being met must take priority alongside ensuring that where an individual is accommodated does not negatively impact on patient safety and outcomes. Care must be person-centred and built on individual discussions about needs between staff and the individual patient. Balancing these individual needs and the needs of all patients is vital in delivering care which maintains privacy, dignity and safety for all.”

While Joelle’s death in 2023 occurred prior to the Supreme Court ruling and the changes in NHS guidance, it came just a day after Conservative health minister at the time, Cllr Steve Barclay, had announced plans to block trans women from women’s wards, saying: “As Conservatives we know what a woman is.”

Joelle’s mother, Jane, believes treatment was not provided to her daughter in a timely manner, due to indecision over the ‘right ward’ to place her on, despite desperate asks to be placed in any available bed. 

Instructed by Jane, The Trans Legal Clinic explains that during Joelle’s battle with aggressive lymphoma: “A bed was available on the cancer ward when she arrived at Wolverhampton NHS Trust. After staff saw that she was a trans woman, she was removed from the ward and placed in a side ward on the other side of the hospital.

“She suffered 16 days in this room, deteriorating in agony, without cancer pain management. Joelle and her mum Jane were told emergency chemo could not start until she was in the right ward and there was not a bed. She explicitly pleaded for a bed on either the male or female ward. Because she was trans they made her wait for a rare single room. 

“It is unsurvivable to delay treatment for 16 days with this rare but very well understood lymphoma. By the time she received emergency chemotherapy, it was already too late.”

A spokesperson for the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust said: “We would like to offer our sincere condolences to Joelle’s family. As this remains a legal matter, we are unable to comment further at this stage."

Jane is now fighting to secure justice for Joelle, and to ensure that no other trans people are denied urgent care due to their identity. Jane writes: “We want accountability for the decision to deny her the available cancer-ward bed, the 16-day delay in treatment, the failure to manage her pain and the failure to respond appropriately as her condition deteriorated."

She seeks an Article 2 inquest that “can examine the systemic failures that contributed to her [Joelle's] death and help protect other people from the same harm.”

People can support the campaign by writing to their MP, sharing Joelle’s story and/or donating to Trans Legal Clinic. The Trans Legal Clinic is a grassroots, trans-led legal clinic providing free, high-quality legal help to trans and non-binary people across the UK.

Joelle, who would have turned 31 in November this year, is remembered by her loved ones as being: “precious, beloved and magical. 

“She had an inventive, agile mind. She was generous, articulate and funny, with integrity and courage. 

“She was a gifted musician who achieved a first from a conservatoire. She also taught herself to code and built a career in technology. 

“She was deeply loved by her family, her friends and her partner.”