Statement from the Society of Radiographers re Mammograms

I had breast cancer 6 years ago, so I’ve been examined many times. Most have been by male doctors. The difference is that the technique is sort of pressing down with flat hands, whereas mammograms can involve gravity the breast tissue.

Indeed, what does happen if they’ve been employing males and allowing them unconsenting access to females - as the letter to Brighton trust suggests? I wonder if anyone is aware they have been examined by a male without their consent? Given the SC ruling, that looks like a very winnable court case now….

Spade ready!

Which is a completely separate point to what is being proposed by the SoR.
And any men you interact with further along your breast cancer journey will be chaperoned.
How hard is it to understand that in order for a voluntary screening programme to be successful it must place as few barriers as possible to participation!
No woman is going to refuse treatment from a (chaperoned) male HCP if she is on the urgent cancer referral pathway but women are already self excluding from screening after finding out about this proposal from the SoR.

You may be examined by a man, yes - but you will be chaperoned and you will be seen in a very different setting. You will also be able to refuse a male Dr. Just because something happens in one setting to women in a particular way shouldn’t mean that millions of women are forced to accept males in a very different setting performing a very different test on them in a far more physical way.

I realise that, what I am saying is that at sometime in your breast cancer 'journey' you will be examined by a man.

Ok, so it looks like the SoR aren't going to listen to their service users at this point so who is the next link in the chain? Would contacting the UK National Screening Committee, our local NHS Trusts and breast cancer support charities be the best option?
I'm 7 years post diagnosis and treatment but am still involved in a few groups so will start there.

This. Its men crying because there's a career thats hard for them to get into. Cry harder. Female-only spaces should remain just that.

A colleague, married to a surgeon, told me years ago that gynecology appealed to men as there was a lot of private work to be had. In other words it's a cash cow.

I don't know how true this is, but the same cannot be said of male mammographers who would more than likely be an NHS band 6 or private healthcare similar.

As I have said before on another thread, DD is a radiographer, there are lots of male radiographers but a lot less than those female. There isn't a shortage of female radiographers wanting to take up that modality. Men tend to gravitate towards other modalities, often with less patient interaction and crappy hours such as reporting.

This just stinks of virtue signaling by the SoR, although a less cynical me thinks that at the moment men with breast cancer don't have the option of having a male mammographer.

Then you’ve been unlucky (although I appreciate you might not care who sees you) as the ‘chances are’ more women will see female gynaecologists because there are more employed in that specialty. However, you will have had (or should have had) a female chaperone in what is a very different setting from a a routine breast screening.

The fact that screening services have already seen a drop in numbers attending since this motion was passed should tell you everything you need to know.

@MyOliveHelper Then they should immediately offer to rebook an appointment when a woman radiographs is available.

The fact is male mammographers are not acceptable to most women and they cannot be forced o accept them. Nothing will change that so the NHS would be wasting money placing a male radiographer in a mammogram unit.

There’s no suggestion that there aren’t enough women to do this job, only that it’s unfair that men are not allowed to

@LeftieRightsHoarder I think what’s happening here is that the woman who said she’d tabled the motion in the photo I posted earlier has now had that motion passed by the SoR. However, the NHS still has to accept the motion and accept male mammographers into its screening services. This means that at the moment it’s a service for women by women (including some men no doubt, but we weren’t allowed to complain about those ones until recently)

Sorry I’m being very slow this morning. But didn’t the statement say:
No changes have been made to who carries out breast screening by this motion.
The breast screening experience remains:

• A specialist called a mammographer will take breast screening mammograms.
• The mammographer will be female.

I’ve had all my routine mammograms and several “urgent” ones and I’m now too old to be called. I can and will ask for one in a year or two. I’ve never seen a female gynaecologist despite at least four separate NHS referrals.

Goodness me, the person who apparently wrote that motion is a short-sighted fool, in thrall to the menz.
It's full of buzz words, no? And now the patients have said 'we don't like it, NO' - will she realise that for care to be patient-centred YOU NEED TO BLOODY INVOLVE THE PATIENTS IN ANY CHANGE.

So, who's training the men? Why have they done so without asking the patients, why didn't they take notice of the equality act exemption? Someone has fucked up here.

I’m a mammographer. I’ve said this several times on the various threads. Look at NHS jobs website to see how many vacancies are advertised for mammographers. You may be surprised. Shortages aren’t because women won’t do the job. They can be because trusts prefer to work under staffed because of financial reasons. Or they are ‘fully staffed’ and don’t need to recruit. It’s unusual to get fully qualified applicants for vacancies but there are applicants for training posts. And we are inundated with applicants for assistant practitioner roles.

If a male is hired the NHS can fired him via "reorganisation" redundency as the role for a male no longer exists there is a new role for female staff.

The NHS service have a big "we totaly fucked up" problem as they have in principle opted out of the exemption and have made a wedge for the next man who wants to apply to point out they already have a male employee.

So the court cases would bring in the wider meaning of woman in employment law and the law used to set up the screening. Including any training provision and the ability to lawfully obtain state funded training

I suspect that might be because they wanted to include trans men as radiographers, though, as the Radiography article from 2023 (linked upthread) complains that trans men have to be fired if they transition as they’re no longer ‘female’.

The motion has already been passed, the question now is will it be moved forward into a discussion involving the NHS? And if so will any decisions be open to input from service users before implementation?
If there are already males with GRCs working (illegally) in the screening service then what are their employers going to do about it?

Can opened. Worms everywhere

Try reading this thread, and this one:

www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5324667-allow-male-workers-to-perform-mammograms-and-breast-screening?page=1

But why is it a women's service run only by women? Gynaecology isn't. Midwifery isn't. Obstetrics isn't.
Why do we need a service run only by women for breasts?
It doesn't make any sense. Surely the only thing necessary is to provide the option of a female mammographer.

I am CONVINCED they will pass the motion to allow men to work as mammographers as a result. Purely because it gets them out of a hole.

And which is why we need to make an almighty fuss about it to prevent them doing so. I’ve already used their contact form and contacted my MP. Next, I’ll contact the DHSC directly.

Just had a look at SoR on Facebook - absolute guff from the male Freddie Cooper and it seems the motion was put forward by a woman in NHS Leeds whose views on other women not stepping aside for males are clear

Why would a career path which is
• day shift and
• by appointment only
which is not attractive to women be attractive to men ?

Can you give me some reason why that would happen at
• application and training level
• hire level
• staff retention level