The Royal Melbourne Hospital staff joined the colourful celebrations at this year’s Midsumma Pride March in St Kilda today.
The RMH staff marched alongside our fellow health services to celebrate and show support and solidarity with LGBTIQA+ staff, allies and community.
Among those marching was our LGBTIQA+ Patient Liaisons, Tegan (they/she) and Connor (they/them).
“Being part of the Pride March is a way for us to celebrate and recognise the diverse LGBTIQA+ identities within our community, including our rainbow staff, patients, and consumers,” Tegan said.
“It's important to acknowledge that whilst the day is packed with fun, the Pride March originated in protest and the LGBTIQA+ community continues to face many barriers. All of us in healthcare have a role to play in addressing some of those barriers by creating safer and more inclusive spaces for people from our LGBTIQA+ community to receive care.”
Connor added: “We march in solidarity and support of members of the LGBTIQA+ community who cannot – including those who have marched before us and those who are no longer with us. We are on a continual journey to improve health outcomes, advocate for equity for the LGBTIQA+ community and promote visibility, safety and inclusion for everyone under the rainbow.”
The RMH’s LGBTIQA+ Patient Liaison Service, believed to be the first of its kind in an Australian hospital, offers support to patients receiving care and their loved ones along their hospital journey.
The RMH also worked closely with the other Parkville precinct hospitals to update our electronic medical system to allow patients to record their sexual orientation and gender identity. The RMH also worked with the Zoe Belle Gender Collective to develop the Transgender and Gender Diverse Inclusive-Care Guide for hospital-based healthcare professionals, while our LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Action Plan embeds our commitment to be a great place to work and receive care.
Our LGBTQIA+ patient liaisons are now working with other health services to share knowledge so we can make our services safe and inclusive places for everyone to receive care.
Find out more about these initiatives at our website.
Make a referral to the LGBTIQA+ Patient Liaison Service
We accept referrals from community clinicians, as well as self-referrals from patients, consumers and families.
To make a referral, call the LGBTIQA+ Patient Liaison on (03) 9138 7300 or email lgbtiqaliaison@mh.org.au
We're here to talk about anything under the rainbow!
We provide a media service from 6am to 9pm each day. Journalists are welcome to contact our media adviser on-call via the RMH Switchboard on (03) 9342 7000.
During business hours, journalists can email mh-communications@mh.org.au. We do not respond to emails outside business hours.
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