To think that having a mammogram carried out by a man is preferable to a long wait for an appointment.

[JudithOnHolidayAgain]

I know many people who wouldn't be here now without early detection of breast cancer due to the screening programme.
I have had a few myself.
It's not something I look forward to but it's a few minutes of discomfort that could save my life so I put up with it.
Given the choice I would prefer a woman carry it out as it is quite intrusive but as there is a shortage of female staff I would be ok with a male member of staff as long as there was a chaperone and Iwas told in advance.
If they do change the rules I think there should be a choice.

People are not good at thinking/ understanding the practicalities of managing matters like this.

Especially in the context of Brexit and all the people who are against immigration and hate tax raises, but want to have their pick of professionals from a nice big variety of demographics of their choosing.

You're not being asked "do you prefer a woman or a man?"

Obviously most women would choose a woman if given the option.

The question is "There are not enough women - do you prefer a man or do you prefer a long wait?"

People can't seem to get their heads around the fact that the number 1 option is not available in our current reality.

I love this. Well done for reflecting on your initial thoughts and being open minded to consider another point of view, and for sharing that. Rare to see online!

Informed consent, no surprises for routine screening should be the gold standard.

If a lump has been found, the follow-up to that is through a different service anyway isn’t it, with some male doctors potentially working there? There should still be informed consent with no surprises operating as a principle, plus female chaperones.

nope I would not go if it was a man

Good job it’s not all about you then.

There isn't a queue of men waiting to do this job there is a shortage of radiographers so why should we train up women rather than men since that is what would best serve the needs of the population in this procedure.

I’d have no problem with this and I’d rather have a male examiner so that a woman who does prefer a female examiner (for whatever reason) could have one. Given the choice I’d choose a woman but I’m amazed men aren’t allowed to do this. Imagine if only female doctors could deliver babies!

They actually need to want to do the job. There are plenty of female radiographers so presumably they are not applying for the posts.
There is a workforce gap. It is not just a case of train the female chaperones - they may or may not have GCSEs, A-levels or the aptitude or interest in a degree in radiography and even after that, they may not want to be mammographers. Chaperones may be HCAs, student radiographers etc.

Um there may well be unintentional manipulation of privates during birth depending on how the labour progresses and use of forceps, incision etc. Same with coil fittings where I was in quite a bit of pain and definitely felt it was being manipulated because they were having problems opening the cervix. Breasts aren’t the same as privates anyway and many of us don’t give a shit if they are manipulated.

Sorry to be clear we should be training up more women

I am also a survivor of sexual assault and domestic violence.

As I said in my post - of course there are some women who will find it difficult to be treated by male clinicians. But you presented your experience of mammograms as a universal truth and implied that anyone who says they're no big deal can't possibly have ever had one. That's a very different thing from saying 'For personal reasons, I wouldn't want a man to perform a mammogram'.

So women who are survivors of sexual violence shouldn’t have a choice? Or they would have to disclose that in order to justify their preference?

Where are all the women who want to be radiographers coming from then?

It's not that an active choice is being made to train men over women. They train whoever applies and is suitable for the job.

If the UK is going to clamp down on immigration and underfund the NHS then jobs become less appealing and you have fewer people to do them. There is a recruitment crisis.

Mammograms can involve quite a bit of contact, scooping boobs into the correct position and such like. I wouldn't feel at all comfortable with a man doing it.

the only man I want handling my boobs is DH😃

You probably wouldn’t say that if you got diagnosed wihh the breast cancer and the surgeon was male.

And obstetricians, midwives etc aren’t pulling and manipulating your privates?

A gynaecologist literally opens up your vagina and spreads you open with a speculum. I've also had examinations where they have to examine my 'privates' internally and externally with fingers. There is a lot of manipulating involved.

In a world where the acronym TUBE (totally unnecessary breast examination) exists, I would be very uncomfortable with a male practitioner.

For me, the important questions are how would the choice of a male mammogram tech be communicated to the women attending for their mammograms, and would women who refused a male tech end up waiting longer for their mammograms - essentially being disadvantaged for their choice.

I do understand the arguments about male gynaecologists, nurses and midwives, but I appreciate the existence of a medical service that is aimed solely at women being staffed solely by women. I am not sure there is any particular benefit to women of having their mammogram done by a man, and would prefer the NHS to do more to recruit more women for the role, rather than just opening it up to men.

To be honest, I can see some men deciding to apply for this because they like the idea of manhandling women's boobs all day - not all of them, I'm sure, but if even a few slip through the net, that would be a bad thing.

A mammogram is not a pleasant experience anyway - do we really want to put in something else that would put some women off attending for their mammograms? Because like it or not, it would put some off. If I walked into the van and found a man there, I would not be happy - even if there was a chaperone.

I doubt he'll do a great job of performing surgery on you if you ever find a lump, tbh

Having a choice is the key thing here.

I wouldn't mind a male doing my mammogram, however, with my last baby I did refuse to have a male midwife, he was pretty put out by that, and later on I saw him helping a lady breastfeed, and I wouldn't have liked that either.

I think, for me, it depends on how vulnerable I feel in a situation. Going in for a routine mammogram, I wouldn't feel vulnerable, giving birth and the aftermath of that, I did.

There are a lot of people who would feel vulnerable with any kind of intimate exam or procedure by a man, and that's valid, and should be respected.

100% agree.

I have annual mammograms after a mastectomy and no way would i want a male handling my remaining breast. I've had two men conduct ultrasounds which was bad enough but didn't involve the same level of touch. I'm very happy for those who don't mind, but I really do. God knows I dread the appointment enough (purely because of what they might find) without added stress.

Just no.

Ok I stand corrected. But I bet you had a female chaperone while all this was going on. There are no chaperones in mammography rooms.

Where I go there is "women only" van - DH's have to wait outside but there is also the main unit inside the clinic where people (yes men also get breast cancer), trans men/women, those with disabilities (van has steps) and those that need to have someone with them can go.
Btw should a man with a breast lump have to have his test done by a female radiographer.

I think it depends on why I was having one - if I thought there was a risk of cancer a lump say or came from a high risk background I may find having a male doing mammogram is less important than the scan.

If it's a regular screening program then could decide having a man just a step to far - and could put me off partcipating in screening program.

I've had it with smear tests - legs up suddenly there's a student and you don't mind do you - once a male student - and I did but didn't feel could say - so if that happend with breast screening - turn up and only a male option - then may well mean I don't partcicipate with screening program but would still see GP and go to screening if I found a lump.

It doesn't really matter what other posters think I should do or feel - chances if I get coerced into a man doing them and I find it unpleanst I won't go back unless I feel the risks are high enough to justify having to go though that again.