audio by title 'justin varney at lgbtsym'

The North West Regional Assembly organised an LGBT Health Symposium in Manchester on 29th March, 2007 entitled “Promoting Health for the Region’s Wealth: Meeting the Health Needs of the LGBT Community”. The event was organised and funded by the North West Equality and Diversity Group - a body set up by the regional assembly to help promote the region’s goal to become a totally inclusive and equal community - and was part of a series of symposia taking place around the region to discuss inclusivity issues related to ALL ’strands’ or communities of need within our society. The audience of more than fifty health and social care managers and diversity leads included representatives from fifteen of the region’s Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) - the public bodies responsible for every aspect of first line health care in Britain.

This recording starts with an introduction to Dr Justin Varney’s background by the symposium chair, Evelyn Asante-Mensah. As she explains, Justin is a specialist registrar in Public Health, a member of the Executive of the Gay and Lesbian Association of Doctors and Dentists (GLAAD) and a leading member of the Department of Health’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Advisory Group (SOGIAG). Justin speaks here in some detail about the issues for health trusts and social care teams in NOT recognising and dealing with the socially influenced needs of LGB and T people.