TRANSFORM: Raising standards of health care service provision for LGBTIQ people

The Malta Union for Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) has partnered up with the Human Rights Directorate within the Ministry for Justice, Equality and Governance to implement the EU co-funded project TRANSFORM: Raising standards of health care service provision for LGBTIQ people. This project is co-funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme and aims to tackle inequality and discrimination in access to health care services by LGBTIQ people.

It aims to do so primarily by enhancing the capacity of a range of health practitioners to address the health needs of LGBTIQ persons in a sensitive manner that acknowledges the specific challenges often encountered by them and by making practitioners more aware of heteronormative assumptions that result in inequalities to access healthcare by LGBTIQ persons.

The project will also implement awareness raising activities aimed at the LGBTIQ community and provide resources that can assist healthcare providers in communicating their services as safe and inclusive spaces for LGBTIQ persons needing their care.

Several training sessions will also take place, organised in collaboration with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister within the Ministry for Health, the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) and the Malta College of Family Doctors (MCFD). These sessions are aimed at various healthcare practitioners, managers and practice nurses, and front office staff which are the first point of contact for healthcare provision. Specialised training will also be provided to General Practitioners and emergency services personnel in collaboration with Ghent University Hospital. These trainings would be complimented by a website to which health practitioners could refer for information on trans patient healthcare as well as signposting to specialist services such as those provided through the Gender Wellbeing Clinic where required.

The project aims to benefit from the exchange of good practices through partnership and exchange visits between the Ghent University Hospital Trans Info-Point (TIP) and Gender Well-Being Clinic.

ILGA Europe and Transgender Europe are also involved in the project as associate partners which will increase outreach and dissemination of project results on European and international platforms. Steward Health Care and the Council of Europe SOGI Unit are also collaborators in the project.

Link to website: https://equality.gov.mt/en/lgbtiq/Pages/About-the-Project.aspx