To seek assurances that I’ll be put on a single sex ward?

[Thoosa]

Not single gender. Single sex.

Im due for one, maybe two, surgeries this year. I’m a DV and rape survivor.

I’m nervous.

Unless you are on a Gynecology ward I can’t see how that would work. What about asking for a side room? Would that make you more comfortable?

I feel it for you Op, I really do.

A few years ago I was in hospital for a few weeks; unfortunately for one week I was in a shared bay, with both men and women. It wasn’t ideal but honestly, I didn’t feel unsafe at all: the ward was busy all the time, and all the men in the ward were too ill to get out their beds

Wards are rarely single sex I'm afraid. Apart from the obvious maternity related wards which will obviously remain so.

@Theunamedcat

It's a safeguarding issue not a trans issue surely?

Because, I was always led to believe that the reason for transition is gender dysmorphia (sp?) And that meant that you had corrective surgery and if you were born male had your penis removed and changed therfore transgender women cannot rape as legally rape is defined using a penis so it cannot possibly be a trans issue because trans women don't have a penis

So how has it happened? How has a person with a penis managed to be on a ward full of women rape one and get away with it?

I'm not understanding

I don't have the figures to hand but most transwomen retain their penis, and 'corrective surgery' is not a requirement for a Gender Recognition Certificate, nor for that matter is it a requirement to be considered 'a transwoman' informally- I doubt that these hospitals are putting transwomen on female wards only if they have a GRC.

Back in 2008, people would have thought it ridiculous to tell you that you didn't deserve a single-sex ward.

Abstract

With the exception of specialized units, adults have historically been cared for in single-sex hospital wards in the UK. However, over the past two decades, concerns about mixed-sex wards have been reported. Respect and dignity are essential to provide high-quality health care. The issue of whether patients' privacy and dignity are compromised by mixed-sex wards is addressed in this article. Qualitative data were obtained from both nurses and patients on a mixed-sex surgical ward specializing in urology, to obtain individual perspectives relating to factors affecting dignity on the ward. Nurses tried hard to keep bays single-sex but, due to bed shortages, they were under continual pressure to mix the bays. Some patients of both sexes and varied ages perceived that a mixed-sex care environment threatened their dignity. They experienced a lack of privacy, worried about bodily exposure and felt uncomfortable. Nurses used various strategies to reduce patients' discomfort. Mixed sex accommodation is an unacceptable solution to bed shortages.

Baillie L. Mixed-sex wards and patient dignity: nurses and patients perspectives. Br J Nurs. 2008 Oct 23-Nov 12;17(19):1220-5. doi: 10.12968/bjon.2008.17.19.31461. PMID: 18974690. [accessed digitally 18th March 2022]

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18974690/

They won’t be able to guarantee single sex. There will be male staff for a start.

Best to request a private room, speak to management ahead of surgery and request only certain staff care for you unless an emergency.

This thread is so transphobic I’m surprised it hasn’t been taken down.

You have every right to be concerned and unfortunately every reason too in light of the recent travesty in the news. I think you need to speak to your Surgeons office about the ward you will be released onto and possibly PALS to get an insight into hospital policy and express your concerns, they won’t guarantee you you are safe though because they can’t. I hope it all goes well for you.

@Piper22

This thread is so transphobic I’m surprised it hasn’t been taken down.

How is it transphobic to not want a biological male in with women?

@fallfallfall
We are in the middle of a pandemic and side rooms are in even shorter supply than usual. Clinical need has to come first. This would come second. Sorry, but that’s the reality unless you go private.
Request one sure OP It’s worth a go. But that will involve all the ward staff being made aware of your history so they don’t try and move you out of it.
I’m sorry to the poster who said they had to share a bay with the opposite sex. We get fined heavily for that so it doesn’t generally happen. I would think at worst OP that the ward may be mixed sex so the toilets may be shared, (though usually not) but a lot of hospitals have for example a male urology ward and a female one.
I hope your stay is ok regardless.

@Piper22

This thread is so transphobic I’m surprised it hasn’t been taken down.

This post is so misogynistic I'm surprised its author manages to post on mumsnet, online hangout for thousands of women.

@Piper22

This thread is so transphobic I’m surprised it hasn’t been taken down.

If you see any transphobic remarks please report them for breaking talk guidelines

@Piper22

This thread is so transphobic I’m surprised it hasn’t been taken down.

maybe you could point to the transphobia? no one has any animosity to trans people, especially not when they are ill, we just want to protect women's safety and dignity- this means single sex provision It's transactivists seeking to overturn this basic provision that are the problem- if transwomen were happy to be accommodated alongside men there would be absolutely no problem. As mentioned earlier, transmen could be safely accommodated with women. But that doesn't fit with the 'transphobic/ hateful TERFs' narrative.

Trans people have as much rights as you to use the NHS. I am really sorry about what happened to you and I do understand your anxiety but you can't expect special treatment in an over stretched NHS. You're lucky to get a bed!
You can ask but you can't demand. Could you pay for a private room?.

@Butitsnotfunnyisititsserious I really hope you’re being ironic

@Piper22

This thread is so transphobic I’m surprised it hasn’t been taken down.

Point proven.

What a win for the patriarchy when a woman being concerned about her own safety and dignity is deemed transphobic.

Women can no longer have boundaries. Fantastic.

@maddy68

Trans people have as much rights as you to use the NHS. I am really sorry about what happened to you and I do understand your anxiety but you can't expect special treatment in an over stretched NHS. You're lucky to get a bed! You can ask but you can't demand. Could you pay for a private room?.

Why on earth do you suggest that the OP doesn't want trans people to use the NHS? She is asking about the likelihood of the NHS being able to deliver single sex accommodation, as they are supposed to do (barring specialist situations like A&E, ICU etc). She's not asking for special treatment, just the service that the NHS should be trying to provide.

@lifeturnsonadime what evidence are you referring to which suggests women need to be in fear of their safety from sharing a staffed hospital ward with a trans woman? How does it differ from the evidence about consequences to patient safety from male workers and visitors?

Please, someone, point me in some sort of evidence based direction.

In all honesty I've only come across one transperson who was an inpatient - he was given a single room rather than being put in a bay

I don't think he would have minded being in a bay, but it was generally seen as there was a chance that one, or more, of the other women in the bay (gynaecological ward) wouldn't have liked it, so he was in a single room

I suspect that many other hospitals would do the same, because you probably wouldn't be the only one to object, and rather than waiting for you to complain and then move you it's easier to stop the situation from arising

[quote Piper22]@Butitsnotfunnyisititsserious I really hope you’re being ironic [/quote]
Not at all. Trans women are biological men. It's not transphobic to say that. Im happy for anyone to be the person they feel they are, but not for biological men to be in womens spaces. That's not transphobic.

Those pesky cis-privileged rape survivors! What will they think of next to hurt the men feelz?

@maddy68

Trans people have as much rights as you to use the NHS. I am really sorry about what happened to you and I do understand your anxiety but you can't expect special treatment in an over stretched NHS. You're lucky to get a bed! You can ask but you can't demand. Could you pay for a private room?.

I don't think the OP was suggesting that they be barred from the NHS...

I happen to object to adult men being placed on paediatric wards. If I made a thread, asking if it was unreasonable to request that my child was on a child-only ward, would you think I was advocating that adult men be banned from accessing the NHS?

@PurgatoryOfPotholes mums net is open and welcome to both men and women