What the guide is
Changing the language is a guide for mental health services across Sussex, launched in March 2025 by Sussex Health and Care, the partnership that includes Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. It was put together over 2 years with people who use services, their families and carers, and staff, and it says it's there to prompt discussion rather than set rules.
The 3 words it gives as examples
People told the project that 'assessment' can feel like a test you pass or fail, that 'discharge' can feel like the door closing, and that some people don't want to be called a patient or a service user. So for each, it suggests other words.
Instead of 'assessment'
- Consultation
- Conversation
- Information-gathering
- Health and wellbeing discussion
- Initial appointment
- Introduction
Instead of 'discharge'
- Warm handover
- Transfer of care
- 'Step down'
- Transferred back into the care of your GP
- End of episode of support
Instead of 'patient' or 'service user'
- Client
- Customer
- Service leader
- Consumer
- Expert by experience
- Survivor
- Person with mental illness
- Person receiving support
It covers other words too
'Non-disabled' rather than 'able-bodied' or 'normal'. 'Under-served' or 'underrepresented' rather than 'hard to reach' or 'difficult to engage'. 'A neurodivergent individual' rather than 'a neurodiverse individual', because, in the guide's words, it's not possible to be 'a diverse individual'.
On autism and ADHD, it recommends 'autistic people' rather than 'people with autism', because many autistic people see autism as part of who they are. It recommends 'a person with ADHD' rather than 'an ADHD person', because 'identity-first language is preferred by many people with ADHD'.
“It's not complicated: speak to me the way that you would want to be spoken to, should one day you wake up with my illness and problems to deal with.”
What it asks staff to do
The guide notes that some people prefer medical terms and others prefer everyday language. It asks staff to find out at the earliest opportunity, such as a first appointment, what a person would like to be called and which words work for them, to record it, and to use those words from then on.
Sources: Sussex Health and Care: Changing the language, a guide to language for mental health and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust: launch of the guide, 6 March 2025
