Using sensitive language

We want the RCP to be known for being person-centred and clinically led. We aim to ensure what we write (and say) is inclusive and puts people first. We are therefore mindful of using sensitive language and support the following principles.

• We avoid talking about patients as ‘cases’ or ‘admissions’
• We don’t use negative terms such as ‘victim’, ‘sufferer’ and ‘burden’, eg we say ‘a person with dementia’, or ‘living with dementia’, rather than ‘a dementia sufferer’ or ‘victim of dementia’
• Doctors treat or care for patients rather than ‘manage’ them (a disease or condition may be managed though)
• We generally lead with the person, not the condition, eg ‘people with diabetes’ rather than ‘diabetics’, ‘person with asthma’ not ‘asthmatic’. There are some instances, though, where people are very clear they are something, rather than have something, eg deaf people, autistic people. Note also that the Deaf community uses ‘Deaf’ with a capital ‘D’
• ‘Person who uses a wheelchair’ or ‘wheelchair user’ rather than ‘person confined to a wheelchair’
• We avoid ‘elderly’ and say ‘older people’ where possible
• We say ‘patients who were treated’ rather than ‘patients that were treated’
• We say ‘participants’ in a clinical trial, rather than ‘subjects’
• We use ‘multiple health conditions’ or ‘multiple long-term health conditions’ rather than ‘comorbidities’ or ‘multiple morbidities’. Research shows that patients see the term ‘morbidity’ as negative and discouraging
• We avoid the term ‘frontline’ as it places the emphasis on the problem rather than the patient and their care and has war-like connotations. Instead use ‘patient-facing physicians/clinicians’ or a more precise description, eg ward staff, emergency department staff
• We say ‘living with obesity’ (or overweight) rather than ‘obese person’ or ‘the obese’
• We use upper case for Black and White when referring to ethnicity
• We don’t use the BAME/BME acronyms as a noun or adjective as they emphasise certain ethnic minority groups and exclude others. This follows a recommendation in the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report published in March 2021. Instead, we aim to be specific as we can about the groups that we are focusing on. For example, we refer to Black, or if more appropriate, Black West African or Black Nigerian. If it is not possible to be specific, we write or say ‘people from ethnic minority backgrounds’ 
• We don’t use the words ‘female’ or ‘male’ as nouns (ie ‘a female’) – we either use ‘female/male’ or ‘woman/man’ as an adjective or reword the sentence, for example: ‘the first woman president’ or ‘the first woman to be elected president’

Useful links

• ‘Multimorbidity’: an acceptable term for patients or time for a rebrand? – article in the British Journal of General Practice, August 2019
• COVID-19: why it’s time to drop the term ‘frontline’ – article in Commentary magazine, March 2021
• Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion – a policy for how we present the RCP in communications