To expect dd to be able to see a female nurse/dr at the sexual health clinic

she didn’t feel comfortable talking to him. I explained this and he seemed a bit offended

Fair enough they didn't have a female member of staff available - but to be obviously offended that a child wasn't comfortable was wrong. Of course she's got the agency to refuse.

I find that utterly bonkers too.

Removed from the list when they are looking to see if you have bowel cancer because they may not have a female?! Good god!

You'd rather risk not finding out you have bowel cancer than have a male doctor so it?

It was probably said because they don't have a female doctor to do it. As someone else said, they can only work with the staff they have.

Trust me, bowel cancer is a lot worse than having a male Dr doing a colonoscopy.

That’s just idiotic. I hope you don’t try to sue the NHS if it turns out to be something bad and they don’t catch it until it’s too late because you wouldn’t go to an appointment with a qualified medical professional.

To all those saying Op's DD should just suck it up and see the man, she really shouldn't. Patient choice is really important and something that the health service should be able to accommodate, sadly everything is rubbish at the moment so sometime we can't all the time. We should though.

If the gender of the clinician treating you is important to you, then the onus is on you to make a request at the time of booking the appointment. I think it's also important to understand that this may mean you have to wait longer for an appointment. It may be that they simply cannot accommodate your request for a female to treat you (there are certainly Gynae departments where all the consultants are male, for example) but if that's the case they could arrange for a female nurse/support worker/receptionist to act as a chaperone provided there were enough staff at the time to allow for this.

I know you liked the person you saw first better but the male clinician was right, your DD should have been seen alone intitially for a quick chat to work out if she's being subject to abuse, if the.adult attending with them is who they say they are and what she's happy for the adult to know about her.

Clinics always try to have a range of staff on but more and more clinics are running with one member of staff these days and its.rubbish all round but often the best they can do. Its a shame she wasn't seen today but it sound like there's a plan in place.

Why? The NHS has enough to pay for without providing chaperones for pointless reasons.

Are clinics just supposed to have women sitting around waiting to chaperone the odd teenager that wants it?

There is nothing wrong with your dd being seen by a man so no need for it.

Irrelevant. The appointment in question was at a sexual health clinic and it is perfectly fine that OP's daughter would like to speak with another female about her personal matters.

It's unreasonable if you didn't mention it when booking the appointment

That's shit, OP. But you have done a brilliant job advocating for your DD and teaching her to set her own boundaries she is comfortable with.
Too many, like always happens on here, are quick to dismiss other women's feelings and tell them to put up and shut up which is very, very problematic.
Who cares that the professionals 'see this day in day out', 'they could be offended', 'oh well I had the other sex treat me and they were soooo much better'! It's the patient's comfort which is paramount.

YABU and you aren’t doing your dd any favours by teaching her that she can’t be treated by men. What if she ends up having a male midwife, or consultant, or surgeon?

In the sexual health clinic? I'm sure he would be able to if he asked. Has he asked?

I had a colonoscopy recently. My doctor happened to be male but I didn't think twice about it. The only time he saw me when I wasn't fully clothed was when I was under general anesthetic anyway. He couldn't have been nicer or more reassuring, both before and at the follow up appointment.

You certainly can ask, but if there is no-one female on shift then there's nothing they can do but turn you away. They certainly would give a female if one was available.
I can understand a teen girl finding talking to a man about this stuff a bit awkward. Also if she needed examining or treating even more so.
Of course they are fully qualified, and it would be good to reassure her they are just as professional as a woman and see/talk about this stuff all day every day. I have to say I always remember being seen by females in the sexual health clinic. Even as an adult I might at least initially want the examination to be done by a woman. But if she needs to see them, she shouldn't let it put her off attending. Hopefully there will be a woman there next time.

That's disgusting. Have you tried complaining to PALS?

You can have this under full sedation (general) if that would help?

(I appreciate it might not, sorry)

Please, do go to that appointment! They are trying to make sure your health is ok, why would you care which bits the person helping you have?

I totally get you and your DD, but I think this is something we will have to get used to. A Dr is a Dr. There is a shortage and lots of people on long waiting lists.
What I think he should have done better is asking your DD if she wanted to go in alone or accompanied, rather than asking to see her on her own. I know some teens go shy and they have to ask questions that the teen may be hiding from the parent, but I always had the nurses sending me outside for a sec when that is the case.