Trans rights supporters -can we please unite on the cervical cancer issue

Plenty of deletions do that. Perhaps protest about all the deletions of GC banned words that do exactly the same.

That word should not be normalised.

It didn't look that way and if you don't mark it up, it normalises the word.

Repeating the banned word was intended to be sarcastic.

Burpees' post was at best nonsense and at worst malicious (the scenario of hordes of women who don't need a smear turning up for one so that justified using language referring to people with cervices)

The fact she picked that word, for me , anyway heightened the ridiculousness of what was already a nonsense post.

MNHQ deleted her post because of that word. Personally I think it was wrong to delete it for that reason. The offensive part wasn't that word. Deleting her post then makes the several replies to it meaningless. I think it would better for such a feeble point to have stood and to let the posts refuting it do their job.

MNHQ have reinstated my post. The context was important

Good

Thats what i was really finding annoying...the context bit

Please don't use the word again Lass. After the quote you used that word as if it was an acceptable and mutually understood word. It isn't, so please don't use it again.

Ah Lass , I remember tapping too quickly and adding to some cross-post-chaos! I'm glad it was reinstated, as you say, context is very important.

MNHQ have reinstated my post. The context was important as it was refuting a very silly post suggesting that the NHS would have to deal with time wasting natal women who didn't need to have a smear.

Same. I won't let it slip back in while we are dancing on pinheads.

I also reported cis. On the first comment it was mentioned. Not on any subsequent responses...I will also be continuing to do so

I reported cis and will continue to do so

Ah! I dont imagine lass using charlie is silly so that word didnt occur to me.

So many rules so much uncertainty & waiting for an unseen person to inform on you. Yep not sinister AT ALL.

@BelaLug0si
Yes, this is what I have seen over the years too. Those of us aware of how the system works do the same in supporting women to say the same to their GP!
My hunch is that the breakdown is actually that gyny oncology don't instruct GP practices. GP's will follow their lead when a woman has being diagnosed and will wait for instructions from them.
In order to improve things, this would need to be added to protocol.
Its also not unusual for women who have had surgery to know exactly what has been removed (some women don't want to know of course). I asked for a list and have a very good relationship with my team so was better able to then advise my GP practice.

Lass was responding to someone using the same term. She used it in her response. It was a perfectly reasonable and sensible post. The substantive bit of it is still in my post. The post she was replying to has also been deleted and as she said was implying that women without cervixes would be wasting NHS resources. As she pointed out this would either be because there was a medical reason i.e. no uterus which would likely be known by the time of the first smear or a surgical reason, and in a rare case where the unknown medical reason was discovered at a routine smear that would be a good thing.

But yeah

I appreciate if lass was quoting somone else then the deletion was fair enough

Unless it was...in which case

LASS you bad bunny

ikewise, many feminists are affronted by the term ‘cis’ and ‘terf’, so using these terms will make civil debate less likely. As we’ve said, context is everything – but it’s likely that going forward our moderation team will delete these expressions

5 days ago it was ....context is everything and likely

I don't actually remember what the first half of lass post was but i doubt it was 'die cis bitches'

@R0wantrees lack of communication and/or understanding I'm afraid. Most of the units I work with have audited their GP discharge letters to check clinicians are giving the correct instructions. Unfortunately some clinicians don't give the correct follow up and some practices don't action the letters. We occasionally get phoned with queries why a patient's still being called and have to educate the practice that it's their responsibility to cease them.

@BelaLug0si thank you for sharing your knowledge

most transwomen are usually recorded as having had a hysterectomy when they transition so I am told

Who told you this? I have never once known this to be true in any NHS Trust.

@garam
It is crystal clear that the guidance is trying to cover everyone who needs a smear.

It really isn’t. Nearly half of the female patients I have worked with in over a decade in healthcare have no idea what a cervix is, where it is or what it is for. Many have no idea what a Pap smear is for and think it is a vagina swab despite full explanations before anything can take place. If you don’t make it explicitly clear that it is women of a specific age group then huge chunks of society will be missed out.

That must be the case Lass, as you noted I quoted your perfectly reasonable post.

BelaLug0si

I'm not sure of the reasons why it doesnt happen as you desribe in your first point, but its a really common issue.
Often women end up being a go between with oncology team to enable the GP practice to authorise the screening program to remove their name from the list!

@Waddlelikeapenguin your mother needs to check with her consultant what follow up she's supposed to have. It depends on several factors. If it turns out that she doesn't need vault samples then the GP should get her ceased from screening due to no cervix.

This has been an interesting thread for me, some of you might be aware that I work in a cervical screening lab.
Couple of points:

1. Post hysterectomy for cancer, the oncologist should advise the GP what follow up is required. The GP should cease the patient from bring called for screening as vault samples are outside cervical screening programme. People shouldn't still be getting the invite letters.
2. The Macmillan leaflet about 'cervical' screening for post op trans women, where a de novo cervix is formed from glans inversion is news to me. Lab staff haven't had any training on this and not sure how we would deal with one of these samples. This is rather concerning.
3. Transmen who retain a cervix do attend for screening but they patient has to be called by the GP practice as they are changed to male on the Exeter database. The result and recall (i.e. follow up) have to be dealt with by the practice as well (not through the central database). The database can't be changed to send for males as then all males would be invited for cervical screening.