Lloyds Bank is first UK firm to offer gender reassignment surgery in its employee benefits package
The move makes Lloyds the first UK-owned employer to offer it on its health plan
ONE of Britain's biggest banks is offering the ultimate employee health benefit on its insurance plans - gender reassignment surgery.
Lloyds Banking Group has changed its employee health insurance plans to include private sex change ops - the first UK-owned employer to do so, according to gay news website Pink News.
The group - which includes Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows confirmed the move and said it was committed to providing "increasing and inclusive support" for its staff.
While the banking group estimates that 830 staff in the UK do not conform to one gender or the other, it said it expects that around 20 staff members will initially take up the offer.
A spokeswoman said: "Lloyds Banking Group has today extended its private medical benefits service to include cover for gender dysphoria.
"The health and wellbeing of all our colleagues is of utmost importance to the group and we are committed to providing them with increasing and inclusive support."
The op will be provided via Bupa to any mainland UK permanent staff member subscribed to the group's healthcare scheme.
The policy change was announced to staff on Thursday.
Karin Cook, Lloyds Banking Group's director of operations, told PinkNews that staff would "be able to access healthcare much quicker".
She said: "They could have a wait of up to 36 months (using another health provision) but through this they will be able to do it an awful lot quicker.
"We want to be inclusive to all colleagues and we felt that our current healthcare provision was excluding certain conditions which were very important to people, particularly in the support for some of the mental health issues that colleagues suffer.
"So it was essential that we were able to extend that to cover to people with gender dysphoria."
Last year the bank launched guidance for employees who transition and allows employees to tick a non-specific option for gender on staff surveys.
Kimberley Bird, from the Rainbow Network - the banking group's 3,000-strong LGBT network - added that she had a very emotional response to the change in policy.
She said: "I think as an organisation we have shown our visible commitment to the trans community.
"Personally I am proud to work for an organisation that just wants to be inclusive."
Speaking of her own transition, Ms Bird said the policy would have helped if it had been available to her.
She said: “I think it would have given me some additional structure, and would have given me some additional options that weren’t available to me at the time.
"It certainly would have cost me less money to go through the transition because I’ve paid for some of the items myself – especially as I did this some time ago now, some stuff was not available on the NHS at the time.”
