British Health Minister Wants to ‘Eradicate’ Gay Conversion Therapy from NHS
British Health Minister Norman Lamb said that he would want to get rid of the "false premise" of gay conversion therapy.
Mr Lamb said that it was a complete misconception that there was something wrong with someone who happened to be a homosexual. He asked NHS England to give him assurance that no doctor would prescribe gay conversion to anyone. Mr Lamb, being a Liberal Democrat, wished to "eradicate" such pretentious ideas. The Guardian reported that Mr Lamb was requested by 15 MPs from several political parties demanded him to take tougher measures to ban gay conversion therapy.
Mr Lamb eventually had a meeting with representatives from Stonewall and the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He expressed his concern over the particular kind of therapy which was meant for convincing people that there was something wrong about liking a person of the same sex. These therapies apparently cure people with homosexual orientations.
The survey which was taken 5 years back in 2009 revealed that over 200 out of 1,300 psychology professionals had attempted to "reduce" the amount of homosexual attraction of at least one of their patients. One third of such patients were prescribed a therapy. According to Mr Lamb, there should not be any such referrals from a NHS professional. Even though there was no evidence of anyone prescribing such "therapy", there were possibilities.Hence, Mr Lamb wanted to clarify the "inappropriateness" of such referrals.
Mr Lamb wrote to NHS England and emphasised that NHS money must not be spent for such therapies. He said that there should be a "clear signal" to every health professional in the NHS that it would be considered "entirely wrong" of they made such referrals to people.
Mr Lamb, on the other hand, is yet to consider imposing a ban on such therapies. He said that people may need support from professionals in order to come to terms with their sexuality. Mental health professionals, Mr Lamb is certain, should not make their patients believe that they did something wrong.