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.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c367ykjzl5go

The experts disagree, the situation re staff shortages is critical.

Where are you getting your figures from because the society of radiographers disagrees. As l understand it, it’s not the case that males want to take over a ‘female space’ - it’s a clinical setting and they are health care professionals. Ergo, if there is a shortage of HCP’s in a particular field, then experts are looking for a solution that benefits women and saves more lives by speeding up screening. Really not sure why that’s so much of a problem for some, that they would advocate taking away that choice for others. If l’m willing to have a male mammographer then l’m freeing up a female mammographer for someone else. Simple.

A Google search will very quickly demonstrate there's a general shortage of radiographers, due to increased demand for imaging and problems with staff churn and retention. This article for example points to lack of flexible working affecting mid or later career professionals (and I would guess it disproportionately affects women...), issues with training and career progression. Isn't the answer to "not enough radiographers for mammograms [and all the other things they do]" to fix the structural problems so you recruit and keep more radiographers? Not to draft in male radiographers to bale out mammography screening services - which presumably just moves the vacant post to somewhere else? www.radiographyonline.com/article/S1078-8174(22)00158-4/fulltext

SA survivor here. I've found having a mammogram distressing and difficult, I had flashbacks and a panic attack. That would have been 100x worse with a male radiographer, however professional. No amount of rationalising and explaining why it logically shouldn't matter, would make a difference. It's called PTSD, not being a bit silly or guilty of wrongthink.

Women with a history of SA and PTSD, or who are uncomfortable with a male clinician doing their mammogram for reasons of modesty, or religious or cultural reasons, shouldn't be made to feel judged as silly and wrong thinking either.

I hear the arguments about choice. But will it be genuine "choice", given some of the rhetoric on here will there be tacit pressure not to be difficult, not to make a fuss, having to justify requesting a female clinician which may involve having to make very personal disclosures, and possibly lack of prior warning so you turn up at the van and here's Bob who's had to cover sickness absence today and you don't really mind do you? we can give you another appointment but couldn't say how long the wait will be...

The objective of a screening service is maximum takeup, getting women through the door...This is counterproductive if it puts off more women who may already be anxious, reluctant, avoidant. Women's health should be the prime concern.

what a vile person you are, you have idea if that poster is a trauma survivor, so YOU grow up! @Monty88

And again you don’t speak for all women. What rhetoric? The scaremongering rhetoric on here is a massive issue but I see no rhetoric re pressure.

No it doesn’t put off all women, far from it. It will help with wait time which will get
more women through the doors and making it clear it’s a choice will put very few women off anyway .

This has been my experience too. I was also asked if I wanted the receptionist to come in and chaperone. If this is being offered when the mammographer is female, then it is just as possible when they are male.

And for the record, I am GC. I do not see this as a trans allied issue. If it gets more appointments available for those who are open to accepting mammograms from men, great. It will free up more of the female mammographers to deal with those who aren't. Win win.

As someone who was called in because a lump was discovered, I stand by what I said.

Firstly, I am not putting women off, I am saying women will be put off, as many women on this thread themselves have said.

It was Indianajet that first brought up trans issues. I can't believe merely responded to it and I'm getting the blame for it being brought up!

I'm happy to be examined by a male doctor and tbh I didn't know men aren't currently doing mammograms.

I would wonder why a man wants that job though, and have had similar thoughts about male gynecologists. Of all the medical fields, why that one?

No, what you described is not accurate. It's a fact the mammographer stands there and physically lifts and positions your breasts on the plate.

I can tell you as a trainer of many years standing that your post is nonsense. Let you position your own breasts? They’d never be employed in the places where I have worked! Mammography positioning is highly technical and skilled-no way would any woman be doing it herself. And breasts should be pulled-if they’re not, you risk missing a cancer at the back of the breast. We go behind a screen to take the image as it’s radiation-and some women do find it painful. Expert positioning helps.

Why not? You're making out it must be sexual, so he's being a perv. 🙄
I'm of the mine to health care professionals (doctors, nurses) they've seen it all before, it's just another job/body part to them.

Women are not given an opportunity either - we have to explicitly ask for it and the actual choice is take it or leave it.

The only person who has ever asked me if I had a preference for a female HCP was my GP receptionist when booking a smear test for a week when they were expecting a locum practitioner. On every other occasion the “choice” is take it or leave it.

People keep wittering about choice - choice doesn’t exist now in the NHS, why on earth would it exist in the proposed male operated screening services?

I think there’s a huge lack of imagination from some posters. They don’t find mammograms uncomfortable, traumatic or embarrassing so no one else should. Mammograms can be difficult for women for a host of different reasons including anatomy. It’s hard to scan a flat chest for example.

One of the problems with introducing male HCPs to this sphere is that choice will inevitably be removed whether by design, incompetence or stealth. And in any case the many women who don’t want a male will simply not get scanned rather than be seen to make a fuss.

I think the poster who said 'wait till you get one' makes a valid point in that it might take you by surprise how intimate the procedure actually is. I've had a mastectomy with everything that involves, countless mammograms, ultrasounds etc and even now I still find it awkward taking my top off in front of a stranger, walking topless to the machine, having my breast placed and compressed into place, my arms placed into position. It's not a case of popping your boob into the machine and voila, job done.

It's one of those things that we need to grit our teeth and get on with but it should still be as comfortable an experience as possible.

No, I just wonder why, of all the fields to be interested in, a man with no experience of any of the issues, would be interested in that one.

Don’t be ridiculous. If they tick the box saying no male they’ll simply stay in the same place in the queue. In my area we do that all the time with location re all sorts of treatment. I’m asked if I don’t mind x,y and z re hospital. If I say no I get far quicker treatment,if I say yes and hold out for my preferred hospital I’m warned the wait will be longer.

The experts in question being the radiographers lobby group. Their job is to make the case for more radiographers and more money for radiographers.

Notably the representative from the cancer charity in that article (whose job is not lobbying for male radiographers) expresses concerns that women already are reluctant to come forward for screening and often need reassurance that they won’t be seen by a male.

Lets look at the actual data first, then means to increase number of women radiographers.

BTW - I don’t recognise your description of the “hands off” mammogram either. Its entirely at odds with my experience and any other woman I’ve discussed them with. Where are you being scanned?

Yep, it's obvious their post is made up bullshit. Because of the technicalities the mammographer has to physically position your breast on the plate and they have to actually move the slide scale and position of the plates above and below to certain angles.

Someone lying about how mammograms are done is such a low act.

This is what I was replying to.
Seems to me it's adding a choice. I can choose to wait for a woman or get seen earlier if I'm happy to accept a man

I had a male midwife and a male gynae who operated on me and I don’t ask the gender of staff before I attend an appt. I am a SA survivor as well so I do appreciate for some people it’s too triggering but personally I am ok with it if it’s health related. I’ve had mammograms they aren’t pleasant regardless

Similar to a poster above, I don't think I'd realised that this was an area of medicine specifically only run by female staff. I'm in my 30s though so no experience yet.

That said - I've had basically every option of gynae intervention done by male and female staff and I couldn't care less tbh. Best doctor for the job.

So long as women are given the choice over staff member then this can surely only really be a good thing. Those who feel they only want to see a woman can wait until a woman is available, which will hopefully be quicker when those happy to see a man have got out of the queue!

Regarding why do men go into female body professions - my gynae told me that women's bodies are just way more interesting than men's in some areas, gynae/urology being one of them. Female gynae is a huge growth area (although way slower than we'd all like of course), it interacts with so many other specialities (maternity, urology, then you get into the hormones and bloods and genetics...), lots of different procedures/processes so each patient is a new challenge etc... I can totally see why anybody, male or female, would find gynae a really interesting profession to work in.

Interesting spin though isn't it?

You don’t want a male for a very intimate and uncomfortable procedure so you have to wait longer to see a woman (if one is even available in a sparser area). This is spun as “be seen quicker by a man” when its actually causing delays in screening.

Sir Humphrey would be proud.

But why don’t we question why a woman would be interested in it? People don’t necessarily choose specialties due to a specific personal interest in the types of patients they are treating. You could ask the question why out of all the fields of medicine would anyone be interested in geriatric medicine? Is it so they can abuse the elderly? Why would anyone be interested in being a paediatrician? Is it so they can abuse children? Why would anyone be an anaesthetist? Is it because they get a thrill out of seeing people unconscious? Society has jobs that need doing and people to do them regardless of whether they have a pre-existing interest in that area. Otherwise we’d have no binmen, funeral directors or cleaners either.

I have also noticed that people are using examples of names like Bob and Jeff, with the implication that it will be some burly middle aged builder-type bloke popping up in the mammogram van ready to fulfil his dream of touching women’s boobs all day. That’s obviously being done for a reason.

Also men and women are equally affected by loved ones having breast cancer. What if a man decides to pursue a career in this area because his mum died of breast cancer and he feels strongly about the need for early screening? Or would that not be good enough because obviously the only reason he could have is wanting to grope women or make them feel uncomfortable?