To be surprised to have a male health visitor?

[PeriodFeatures]

Just that really! I wondered what other people think?

candycoatedwaterdrops - I quite agree. If you have a bad experience with a particular HCP, refusing to see all others of the same sex is plainly sexist. It would make more sense to refuse to see any others who studied at the same university, or trained at the same hospital, etc. etc.

Cailin - you have my sympathies - I had a boob op earlier this year and the female surgeon examined me (lying topless, obv, on the bed) then proceeded to discuss my options with me surrounded by her colleagues looming over me while I lay half stripped on the bed. I got cross and told her what a shite way to treat patients that was (had reached end if tether with boob pain and quite enjoyed letting rip).

Oh I let rip at the surgeon about the treatment I'd had too mini - they'd led me to believe a biopsy wouldn't affect bfing, which it did, and considering I had a bottle refusing non-weaned baby it made me pretty darn angry. I was so busy ranting and raving about that that I didn't even think to ask him how it was appropriate to leave me sitting there topless and leaking. He started out quite smooth and condescending but by the end he looked so

battered I felt quite sorry for him. What was the reaction of your surgeon?

She was ok about it, said "sorry, sorry, of course, yes", pulled the curtain, let me get dressed etc. But I was so ill and so upset and with the high emotion of it, I remember leaving the room afterwards pushing my tiny DD and just getting to Starbucks and having a massive blub and that so could have been avoided if she'd just been NICE.

Anyway, to get back on thread topic, I mainly wanted to share that because of Cailin's similar story but also to show that its not always men who are insensitive idiots.

My son has a male nursery teacher. Is that a problem too?

I'm a hcp and at times it's appropriate for the patient to want to see a hcp of a particular gender. I get that patients may not want certain procedures undertaken by a man. Similarly if we have a teenage boy in he might not want a female nurse to wash and change him, it's no biggie.

However to think that all male hcp are capable of being inappropriate based purely on their gender is appalling. I have plenty of male nurse friends and I feel sorry for them knowing that some patients feel like that based on them being a bloke. Absolutely ridiculous and offensive. Good care is not down to gender.

A make hv would be fine with me.

I would probably refuse a male mw though. I can't imagine I'd want a man present during birth or aftercare and definitely not when establishing bf which sometimes requires man-handling (no pun intended) of breasts to help the latch.

Similarly I'd rather a female gp if it was to discuss anything gynae related.

I couldn't really give a flying fuck if anyone minded. It's my choice what I'm comfortable with.

Opalite. Those figures are awful. 1 rape or sexual assault is too many.

It would be interesting to see if stats are available for the number of men committing the crimes. 1 man in 300 being rapists or 1 man in 150 as a sexual offender ( which is an estimate I have made from the census figures from 2011) is far too many. It is certainly higher than I thought.

I personally do not think it justifies the attitude all men are rapists or sexual offenders but it is not an amount I am happy to see at all.

"
It would be interesting to see if stats are available for the number of men committing the crimes. 1 man in 300 being rapists or 1 man in 150 as a sexual offender ( which is an estimate I have made from the census figures from 2011) is far too many. It is certainly higher than I thought. "

I suspect that many men are serial offenders and have more than one rape conviction. If say 300 women are raped, it doesn't necessarily mean that there are 300 rapists.

Really tired. I agree. I was working on a worst case scenario.

The important point to take from the statistics is how many women have experienced some form of sexual assault. And that's just the known ones - many more women never tell anyone about it. The issue is that a very high number of women do have a "legitimate" reason not to want male hcps- not because they believe those men are rapists but because being in a vulnerable position around a man is too difficult given how other men have abused them in the past.

Lets say a white woman is horrendously raped by a black man should she have the right to refuse health care from all black health professionals? (Does the fact that one black man is a rapists mean that all black people including women and chidlren are bad?)

Where do we draw the line and say that it is not OK to refuse healthcare from a black health professional or a catholic health professional or a gay health professional or on grounds of gender. Should making the patient "comfortable" always take piority?

Caulindana. If we just take the statistic that we have at the moment I don't think 1% ( if you add rape and sexual assault) is a very high number. Too high of course, and in no way acceptable.

But if a consultant sees 100 people a day ( and I guess this is too high a number) it is one person a day. Yes, provision should be made for them but I don't think the figures justify the view that most men either are, or agree with abuse of women

If someone is a victim sexual assult then surely the solution is to have a chaparone. The idea that you can refuse all health care from a man is unacceptable.

Female health professionals are potentially capable of abuse.

But some posters make it clear that they will not see ANY male health professional. Only a tiny amount of health care is gynological.

Would you pander to someone who refused to see a male ENT surgeon or a male consultant about their broken finger. Or would the patient have the option of bringing a family member with them. Surely the chances of an ENT surgeon abusing a patient is the same as a health visitor abusing a patient.

I have never exposed my body to a health visitor. I think my health visitor would be rather worried if I did!

Perhaps after experiencing something as horrendous as rape they never want a man to touch them anywhere ever again. So yes, broken fingers etc should still be given a female option if that's what they need to get treated. I'd rather people had the option than fear getting medical treatment and not going to the hospital in case they get seen by a man.

"Really tired it is not for you to decide what is and isn't acceptable. Women may have all sorts of reasons for wanting to see a female HCP. I even request a female dentist if possible, that is my right."

With a free health care system there is a limit to what is your "rights". Certainly NHS staff do their best to pander to whims, but I feel its unreasonable to refuse health care from all health professionals. The nhs needs to be run efficiently and needs to be fair to staff.

If you want complete choice of health professional then go private.

A lot of women who are raped can't even bring themselves to be touched by their partners and their husbands - the people they trust most in the world. If they aren't able to manage that (and understandably so) why on earth should they be expected to allow a male stranger to touch them?

As far as I'm concerned if a women does not want a man either looking at or touching her body then so be it. It isn't even an issue. And I say exactly the same if man who would rather see a male professional.

Why should our bodies be 'free for all' just because we have a medical problem that needs addressing??