Harefield hospital, sex not gender

[HeidiHoNeighbour]

On patient registration form.

I left it blank, receptionist asked why and I replied what the difference between sex and gender?
Went into to see dr, he asked why it was blank and I asked again.
Neither answered the question.

Today I will be mostly identifying as a milk chocolate hobnob

Either that or they haven’t thought about it. Sometimes it takes a patient to set the ball rolling. Perhaps contact PALS and make a suggestion that the equality and diversity lead reviews the paperwork in use?

I would be genuinely interested to read about the study and evidence around this, if you have it?

Excuse dodgy formatting, the info below is from the NHS blood donation site. I expect they give the full citation somewhere :)

'Serum made from the blood of male donors could be better for the ocular surface than from female donors due to the different hormones present in the serum.

Men’s blood contains fewer antibodies against red and white blood cells because women often make these types of antibodies when they become pregnant. This means men’s blood is more suitable for processing and creating products such as plasma and platelets which are used to treat patients. If too many antibodies are present in the blood, it can present adverse reactions in vulnerable patients, so using blood from men is often preferred as they have fewer antibodies.'

https://www.blood.co.uk/news-and-campaigns/news-and-statements/call-for-more-men-to-give-blood-as-new-figures-show-twice-as-many-women-as-men-became-new-year-donors/

When I was growing up, it was "sex". Once i was a young adult, it was drummed into us that we should always ask about "gender" if we meant M/F, because sex was about,well, sex. Now it has been decided that presence of penis/ovaries is sex. You can't be surprised if it doesn't seem as simple to some people as it does to you.

Maybe they really wanted to know your gender... If you were in for a prostate check, I am pretty sure they would already know your sex.

@HeidiHoNeighbour

So are transfusions currently sex-matched between donor and recipient then?

Now it has been decided that presence of penis/ovaries is sex.

No. Sex has been the scientific term for hundreds (if not thousands) of years.

So are transfusions currently sex-matched between donor and recipient then?

Blood is processed into different components. Only male blood is used to make certain products. It’s then safe for anyone.

Sex and gender are separate entities.

There are no 'times of daft'.

There really is no need to be transphobic. The amount of posts I read with transphobia from certain people posting blows my mind, it really does.

Apologies, I meant to tag @NeedAnExpert

What Thefaceofboe said

🙄🙄

What on earth could be construed as transphobic on this thread?

I haven’t read anything about trans people at all except that they exist and might have different medical needs, surely not offensive?!

www.livescience.com/60702-blood-transfusions-women-men.html

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5817970/

@withgraceinmyheart

Exactly, some people will accuse discussion of being transphobic it really isnt because if it's not discussed and people start dying or being ill the FIRST thing they will ask is why didnt someone warn them

I’ve been grappling with what to do to establish what people actually are/think they are /wish to become on our medical form. Because as said it really really does matter. But as I understand it, the act of discrimination in the asking, so actually a box for transgender is not ok, and not useful either. Is that a transgender used to be female?? Used to be male??

I need to order the right tests, and admit you to the correct accommodation. I can’t have a top surgery only person in my open gynae ward area. No dicks can be swung about on that ward thanks, even if you don’t want it hanging there yourself. It would be detrimental to the care of the female patients there. You will also not need a pregnancy test before your anaesthetic.

It’s not transphobic, it’s getting an appropriate plan and place of care sorted.

It is a minefield. And if any medic has a good idea how we do deal with it could you share?

@underneaththeash, our times of daft, love it and going to have to use that phrase myself.