Why do consultants ask about marriage?

[2023shady]

Might be a stupid question
Went to see a consultant at the hospital
Usual questions all fine, medical history, do I smoke, smear tests up to date etc etc
Then he asked if I was married. Said no
Next question do I have a partner or am I single

I asked if it affected my medical treatment and he said oh.. no. So I refused to answer
Not in a PITA way but.. do men get asked that?

@porridgeisbae
Thats why it’s very important everyone answers questions !!

But for example when I was seeing gynae about endometriosis issues they asked about this and it was very relevant because they probably would have treated it differently if I had had a current partner,

@Britneyfan how on Earth is the fact you have a current partner affects the way you are treated for endometriosis?!?
Or is that poor man not having sex makes treatment more of a priority.

I’m a nurse and my job includes developing documentation for a trust. It’s an outdated, poorly worded question to gather a social history. You could contact PALs about it just so the appropriate teams are aware it needs updating. Unfortunately there’s often so many different admission/clerking documents floating about they aren’t all vetted. Alternatively documentation from donkeys years ago pops up if the trust uses paper. I saw a care plan from the 80s the other day!!

@ComtesseDeSpair think too about all the prejudice attached to certain category of people that will suddenly affect the way they are treated.

Low education level= no point explaining, they won’t understand
Gay man= probably promiscuous

Yep I’m sure it can help. Can also be a huge hindrance

He just had plain paper so wasn't filling in a sheet if that makes a difference, just noting it down

I would imagine they need to know what support you have at home.

However, when I was diagnosed with cancer I was asked many times what age my youngest child was. They never asked the age of the others, just the youngest.
That freaked me a bit. I wondered if they tried harder to save someone with young dependents. I'm sure that can't be right but would love to know why I was asked that multiple times.

Or how long ago you were last pregnant/gave birth?

It was certainly drilled into me when I was a student ahem years ago, probably running an algorithm in their head.

As Pp said, nothing a HCP does won’t offend someone.

Your husband is your partner. It's not rocket science. Sometimes there is more than one word that can be used meaning similar things. You were being an arse.

Sure. The purpose of collecting data is so as to be able to make data-informed assessments which promote better practice rather than relying on prejudice-based judgements, which hinder it. If the data shows that, at population level, a particular group is more at risk of a particular outcome, it makes sense to target initiatives towards that group.

I’m not going to defend all of the NHS’s practices, I left it because I recognised its failings. Following a previous life in public policy, I now work in insurance, where us actuaries are interested in the same sorts of questions with similar sorts of motivations. You might not think you personally suddenly became a worse/better driver or more/less likely to need your life insurance to pay out or more/less at risk of claiming on your medical insurance when you got divorced as opposed to when you were married, or when you went from being a private tenant to a council tenant to an owner occupier, or when you had a career change from teacher to social worker - but ultimately the population level data demonstrates otherwise. Hence the questions are asked and they affect your premium.

Sexual history background I would assume

Next of kin? More than likely it’s a safeguarding question they HAVE to ask. If you say yes it opens the door to have you been victim of domestic violence etc do you need help. Doctor is just doing their job

It depends on the situation, I was in hospital having major surgery and the consultant asked me if I was married or living with someone, it was his ham fisted way of asking if I had support at home once I was discharged, of course it didn’t make any difference to my treatment but assistance could have been put in place should I have needed it. They don’t have time for pointless questions and it’s very likely a man would have been asked too.

Surely most people would have said "I have a husband" after being asked if you have a partner?

I would have said this, or "Yes, I'm married" Anything else is just being contrary.

He should have worded it different.. and asked if you live alone.. probably wanting to know if anyone at home to look after you if it comes to it after surgery etc. I get asked all the time if l have husband/ partner .. l say I'm on my own..then get asked if anyone could be there to look after me.

@RosesAndHellebores possibly the most ridiculous objection I've heard this year! What a waste of her time to have to have that conversation. Here's a thought "yes I have a husband" I don't understand why that wasn't your response.

I havent rtft, but, Im a nurse and this question comes under CQUINs on admission to my department, so maybe in that area too. CQUINs are audited, have to be completed to get full financial funding to the department, they are about quality and improvement within the NHS to ensure patients needs are met. Its about support, not juts physical, but emotional and financial support too. In a patients ADL's (Activities of daily living) maintaining a safe environment, eating and drinking, working and playing, expressing sexuality, are all mentioned, so a social as well as medical history is necessary.

I'm fairly sure that was a sexual health/pregnancy geared question.

They need to directly ask "Do you have support at home? Who is there that can help you?" Asking if you're married doesn't necessarily answer that. A husband could be zero support. An adult child living at home or a parent could be there and be an amazing help. Depends on the dynamics. As for sex life, being married or not again doesn't really provide much information.