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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

NHS accepting non-binary sex status

82 replies

Yetmorebeanstocount · 07/01/2024 11:05

I've just filled out an online survey for the NHS (got a letter saying I was selected at random).
It asked whether I was male, female, or non-binary.
With hindsight I wish I had clicked non-binary to see if it would then ask what my sex actually was. Seeing as 'non-binary' is not a biological or medical category.

(The next question was whether my sex was same as gender, which is fair enough although it could be confusing for some people).

Did anyone else have this survey request? What happens if you click 'non-binary' - does it then ask for your sex?
Because I cannot see the point of a medical survey that collects numbers of non-binary people in the population without knowing if they are actually male or female.

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grafittiartist · 08/01/2024 21:21

I had a reply from my email complaint- saying that they will take it on board to inform next years survey.

WarriorN · 08/01/2024 21:06

It's ridiculous.

I've started to call non binary a style.

It's Emo #2

literalviolence · 08/01/2024 20:54

Yetmorebeanstocount · 08/01/2024 18:43

This sounds like a good idea - refuse to participate if non-binary is there as an option alongside male and female.
I guess in practice sometimes you would be forced to just pick one, with no ability to add comments. In that case would it be counter-productive to tick non-binary?

Imagine if they processed the results and found that 48% of the population was non-binary and only 4% was female .😄

what on earth would the men who demand that we pretend they are just like us do if the us they want ro be just like identified out of the revolting, sexisr box they feel entitled to force us into?

nothingcomestonothing · 08/01/2024 20:29

Even the best case scenario here is useless inaccurate data. I work for an NHS trust, which has two categories in patient demographics- 'legal sex' and 'sex assigned at birth'.

Leaving aside the ridiculousness of a hospital pretending that sex is assigned at birth, I know a patient aged under 18 who had their 'legal sex' marker changed to the sex they are not - just on their say so, they had no GRC, no form of ID showing that sex, had had no surgery or hormones (thankfully, IMO), purely social transition.

If an under 18 socially-transitioned-only patient can do this, who knows how many other patients have done it too? Well the hospital don't, there's no way of noting a change to legal sex on the patient's record, it's just overwritten (fully paperless system). If you can say you're a different sex than you are, and have your medical records show that untruth as true, the whole lot is useless and potentially dangerous.

Yetmorebeanstocount · 08/01/2024 18:43

literalviolence · 07/01/2024 22:24

I now refuse to put female if 'non binary' is an option because clearly the question has got nothing to do with biology/sex/facts and I am not colluding with a nonsense which allows people to pretend otherwise just to protect the egos of the privileged.

This sounds like a good idea - refuse to participate if non-binary is there as an option alongside male and female.
I guess in practice sometimes you would be forced to just pick one, with no ability to add comments. In that case would it be counter-productive to tick non-binary?

Imagine if they processed the results and found that 48% of the population was non-binary and only 4% was female .😄

OP posts:
FannyCann · 08/01/2024 10:54

mumda · 08/01/2024 10:39

I don't want to read any more of that but it's compelling like the worst sort of horror story.
My minority trumps your minority:

“Trans staff are being badly treated at Newham Hospital. Much staff stand by religion as a good reason to be discriminating and it isn't right on any level.”

Indeed.

"Culture problems are difficult to describe but really do affect the enjoyment of work. It is just an environment in which you know your full self cannot be brought to work. At least not without issue.”

The NHS puts the D into diversity employing staff from a huge range of backgrounds, race and religion. I'm not suggesting anyone should be discriminated against but reifying one minority above all others is not helpful and arguably discriminatory in itself.

And please don't bring your whole self to work. We just want your work self.

mumda · 08/01/2024 10:39

I don't want to read any more of that but it's compelling like the worst sort of horror story.
My minority trumps your minority:

“Trans staff are being badly treated at Newham Hospital. Much staff stand by religion as a good reason to be discriminating and it isn't right on any level.”

Piccalillipromises · 08/01/2024 10:04

Ignore me, just realised they had done this but then put non binary as a sex option, rendering the whole thing completely useless because then "sex" is effectively "gender" - actually, that makes me despair even more.

Piccalillipromises · 08/01/2024 09:58

This is so ridiculously stupid. Why didn't they start with the simple question: what is your (birth / biological) sex?

Followed by "Is your sex the same as your gender?"

Then a follow up on what gender they'd like recorded if the answer was no. Instead of the other bloody way round, which makes no sense because it's far more important to record the correct sex than the gender! I despair, I really do.

BackToLurk · 08/01/2024 09:36

IonaPenis · 07/01/2024 18:08

My GP surgery has changed their online request forms to state Male or Female only, with a 'we understand this directness might upset some people' type message. So there is some light in the NHS.

My GP’s is the same. They have a drop-down that says ‘why aren’t there more choices’ that explains this is about sex for medical purposes

FannyCann · 08/01/2024 08:18

The staff comments are very interesting. (Not in a good way on the whole).
For instance:

“Safe spaces to relax on breaks.”

“More network meetings and socials. These seem to vary from site to site. RLH doesn’t
seem to have any recently and it’s difficult to travel to other sites during working hours.”

“I would really like for my team to respect my pronouns, especially because my pronouns are included in my email signature.”

Safe spaces to relax on breaks?????
When a colleague returned from maternity leave and I found her expressing in our cramped and crowded changing room (with 2 loos) I put a comment in our staff intranet that mothers returning from maternity leave needed proper breaks to ensure they can drink enough and a decent place to express.
Our deputy CEO replied "yes, what a good idea" and that is the last anything has been heard of that.

And more (LGBTQ++++) networks and socials? You come to work to do your bloody work. It's not a speed dating site.

BiscuitBiscuitBiscuit

Woman2023 · 08/01/2024 08:17

So frustrating to read the single feeble defence of gender identity being recorded in preference to sex with "oh it does need improving".

Why the fuck the NHS ever started recording gender identity at all is a good question. Non-binary is just nonsense.

That they decided to basically drop recording sex and then went "oh yes, let's use a weird combination of questions to guess which sex the patient is" is a fucking travesty and everyone involved should be sacked.

Fuckwits.

FannyCann · 08/01/2024 08:07

mumda · 07/01/2024 18:45

@FannyCann have you seen the freedom of information requests regarding it?

Yes, I love the WhatDoTheyKnow.com site.
There's a few people I have noticed doing FOIs related to the Rainbow Badge scheme and the costs related.

Anyone wondering what I'm talking about , go to the site and search Rainbow Badge Accreditation report. There are also some related to Assessment costs.

Here's the one from Bart's. You will find staff comments around pages 18-22

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/1051703/response/2501043/attach/html/3/Barts%20Rainbow%20Award%20Final%20Assessment%20Report.pdf.html

FannyCann · 08/01/2024 07:58

Retiredfromthere · 07/01/2024 13:09

@FannyCann surely the change of wording to 'trans status ' from 'gender reassignment' opens up a whole mess 're PC status. One is protected the other is vagueness. Presume it includes 'gender fluid ' as status?

Yes, it's changing the wording from the actual legal protected characteristic to something entirely different which hasn't been defined.
It's Stonewall law as they would like it to be.
One can only hope Trusts check it out with their legal department before rolling over and doing as they are told.

Plus I have no idea why the NHS should be paying any attention to non-binary - it isn't a protected characteristic.

literalviolence · 08/01/2024 07:20

Peasandsweetcorns · 08/01/2024 01:46

I think for me, I care that people receive safe medical care, and that we respect everyone. Part of medical care is mental health, and identity is a part of that. We can’t help people without information about their experiences. There are also women who for a period of time feel they are men / would like to be men, or are non-binary, and then subsequently think you know I think I made a mistake. Sometimes that’s after choices that they regret, and they wonder how will anyone ever accept they are women now. I don’t think we should simply dismiss those people as crazy. I think we should help them and also learn from their experiences, so that we can help people in the future. That goes for men too. We can’t do any of that without information. Identity is an important aspect of mental and physical health in my opinion, as mental and physical health are intrinsically linked.

@Peasandsweetcorns so, are you looking saying that believing you're not the biological sex which you'll actually are is a mental illness and therefore we should know that? if so, what other facts associated with mental ill health should we collect information about at the same time as actual demographics? e.g. sexual abuse experiences, poverty, bullying at school? you're not understanding that this does not help anyone learn anything because the categories are vague, poorly defined and ever changing. This is a deliberately act of obfuscation designed to hide the fact that the gender ideology movement is a male supremacist movement. The minute TW are grouped by the NHSbwith actual women, we lose the ability to develop better health care for actual women. And it is them, not trans identified males, who are poorest served in healthcare.

PatatiPatatras · 08/01/2024 06:46

Chersfrozenface · 07/01/2024 17:54

What happens about women who for one reason or another - e.g.religion, trauma - can:t share a loo with male-bodied people?

Do they self-exclude from the hospital's services? What would the consequences of that be?

Has anyone asked the hospital authorities?

I did find single sex loos!
Well I don't know if they were single sex. I just assumed they were given that a few others were "all genders welcome".

I think I was surprised you had simple symbols on some and full catch phrases on others. And I missed that they were simply avoiding using the word 'sex' it trying to get the word 'gender' in there by all means.

Peasandsweetcorns · 08/01/2024 01:46

literalviolence · 07/01/2024 22:24

I now refuse to put female if 'non binary' is an option because clearly the question has got nothing to do with biology/sex/facts and I am not colluding with a nonsense which allows people to pretend otherwise just to protect the egos of the privileged.

I think for me, I care that people receive safe medical care, and that we respect everyone. Part of medical care is mental health, and identity is a part of that. We can’t help people without information about their experiences. There are also women who for a period of time feel they are men / would like to be men, or are non-binary, and then subsequently think you know I think I made a mistake. Sometimes that’s after choices that they regret, and they wonder how will anyone ever accept they are women now. I don’t think we should simply dismiss those people as crazy. I think we should help them and also learn from their experiences, so that we can help people in the future. That goes for men too. We can’t do any of that without information. Identity is an important aspect of mental and physical health in my opinion, as mental and physical health are intrinsically linked.

literalviolence · 07/01/2024 22:24

Forester1 · 07/01/2024 20:02

And to add I don’t think that adding non-binary to the options just means that it confuses - I think it’s a strong indicator that the question is asking gender identity and not sex.

I now refuse to put female if 'non binary' is an option because clearly the question has got nothing to do with biology/sex/facts and I am not colluding with a nonsense which allows people to pretend otherwise just to protect the egos of the privileged.

literalviolence · 07/01/2024 22:22

Peasandsweetcorns · 07/01/2024 20:03

I was assuming that full medical data may be used for statistical research. It’s not something I know a lot about, but potentially (privacy issues aside) you could.

Well full medical data might be able to be. E.g. data showing that this is a male person and this is a male person who has had their penis and testicles removed - sure. But you can have any gender identity with any body and any elective removal of body parts. So the actual identity is not informative and therefore should not be asked. In addition, it is a political act to ask about one identity and not others which are much more important to most people than relationships with regressive gender stereotypes .

grafittiartist · 07/01/2024 20:49

I have filled out the same survey.
Question 1 about "gender" I was given male, female and non binary.
(Chose female)
Question 2 asked about gender identity. No option to say "none", so I chose "prefer not to say", and have written them an email to explain why my answer is incorrect.
Glad it's not just me!

Chersfrozenface · 07/01/2024 20:24

And NHS Digital only covers England

We in Wales can look forward to "Digital Health and Care Wales"

As the Welsh Government website explains "Digital Health and Care Wales are (sic) a new Special Health Authority, creating the digital solutions needed to improve health and care in Wales."

Given Welsh Government's batshit gender ideological stance, we can look forward to a database which records gender(s) and totally ignores the essential biological and medical element of sex.

Chersfrozenface · 07/01/2024 20:18

Forester1 · 07/01/2024 20:14

Thanks for sharing. I have no issue with data on gender identity being collected. But it should only be in addition to collecting data on sex.

Edited

And should include an option for those who do not have a gender identity.

Forester1 · 07/01/2024 20:14

Thanks for sharing. I have no issue with data on gender identity being collected. But it should only be in addition to collecting data on sex.

Peasandsweetcorns · 07/01/2024 20:10

lifelongwhatever · 07/01/2024 20:05

I very recently filled in a NHS form and it asked you how you identified and whether this was the same as your sex assigned at birth. There is no way from this that they can tell what the patient's sex is. Its scandalous. Accurate data is needed for both that individual patient safety and wider patient safety by being able to monitor outcomes and use data for research.

I am in Wales.

I was reading this: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-sets/mental-health-services-data-set/submit-data/data-quality-of-protected-characteristics-and-other-vulnerable-groups/gender-identity. I haven’t got time to read it on everyone’s behalf and answer questions. You’ll have to read it yourselves, if you want to. From what some of you are saying (and my not being an expert on it), it sounds like there are things which need improving, I agree.

Gender identity - NHS Digital

Guidance for improving data quality in the Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS) and Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) Data Set. Sets out the fields needed to be recorded to successfully flow and capture protected characteristic...

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-sets/mental-health-services-data-set/submit-data/data-quality-of-protected-characteristics-and-other-vulnerable-groups/gender-identity

WickDittington · 07/01/2024 20:07

You know, sometimes the non-binary poseurs make me crankier than the trans-identified cross-dressers (men and women).

Non-binary people think they are being radical and challenging gender roles etc. They are doing nothing of the sort. The young women think that looking like boys is feminism and the young men think they are doing a good thing against toxic masculinity. Both groups are deluded. They should be doing REAL activism not faffing about with pretending.