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.

I, too, would prefer a woman but for something that is not an emergency situation you will be able to ask for a woman radiographer to do the mammogram.

BUT - I can’t believe that the professional body is suggesting this
Why is this shocking to you? Majority of breast surgeons and gynaecologists were men and probably still are. A lot of radiologists who breast biopsies are men. As PPs have mentioned, there are also male midwives. So it really is not outrageous that a professional body suggests men should be allowed to perform mammograms.

Because there’s a shortage of radiographers and it requires specialist training. Anyone can be a chaperone.

This is nonsense.
I've had a male gynae for years (my choice- private health cover) who's done all my smears and other investigations. Absolutely lovely but always has a female nurse there for both our benefits.

When they invite you in surely they could do a tick box where you specify if you are happy for a man to do it? I know a few SA survivors who would not go in if there was a possibility it would be a man examining them.

I was surprised to hear that it is currently only women who do it - feels like a weird exception given all the other personal medical procedures which are performed by both men and women.

But all male gynaes or breast consultants (including radiographers doing more tests) have a female nurse in attendance.

Without a chaperone this opens the door to legal claims.

This is a straw man (!!!) argument.

The profession needs to be paid well enough and working conditions need to be good enough to recruit and retain sufficient staff.

A lot of us prefer a woman in this role, and a man in the role would be a barrier to accessing screening for a substantial minority. Often women who have experienced trauma, violence, SA, or ethnic / religious minorities.

Males in this role would definitely require a chaperone, so paying 2 people is not a good use of NHS resources.

Then train the woman up! How does having extra staff to do the job relieve staff pressures? There’s no shortage of women wanting to train! Or wanting jobs.

There is not a shortage of women in hmthe health sector ffs, the lower levels are mostly women!

Stop the gaslighting and tell us the real reason why men need to be pushed over women!

I'm on the fence (splinters in my arse) on this one.

I have regular mammograms due to family history. Personally I wouldn't want a man to do this, but I am a survivor of assault, which I know colours my view of this. Just the thought of being in an enclosed space with a man majes a panic attack start (I have PTSD).

So I wouldn't want it imposed on women. I think people should've given the choice. I also acknowledge it is possible I might feel differently if I had found a lump and was awaiting the scan for that reason.

Medicine used to be a male dominated (originally male only) specialty so gynaecologists and breast surgeons were all male. Whereas a lot of the allied health professions (nursing, radiography, physio, OT) have generally had women as part of the workforce from the outset and at much higher proportion than men.

Like some PPs I was surprised to find out men couldn’t already do this. I had a male dr do my stitches after giving birth, I’ve had intimate examinations done by male GPs before, I had a male dr at a sexual health clinic do an internal swab.

I mean, I totally agree that anyone who wants a woman should absolutely be able to have one. I’m just surprised that mammograms is where the line has been drawn in terms of men not being allowed.

I absolutely do not need a woman to perform my mammogram. I don’t need a woman to perform any medical procedure. I’m perfectly happy for men or women to treat me for anything. I’ve just had surgery on my breast and the surgeon was a man. So is my gynaecologist.

That's a whole different issue.

Many women BY THEIR OWN CHOICE do not want to become consultants or surgeons.

There are actually more women going into medicine than men so your argument doesn't stand up.

I don't need a woman to do this for me (and by the sound of it plenty of others don't either). If you do, that's fine, you should have the choice but don't presume to know what all women want or need.

I've had mammograms done by men in Italy - amusingly in a wing of the hospital mostly staffed by nuns, though the doctors (male and female) were "civilians". It didn't occur to me to be bothered, and they were very competent and professional.

<on edit: and there was no "chaperone">

I personally don’t mind if it’s a man or a woman. My main problem would be having to interact with the examiner.

Let people go in blind folded, then they don’t have to see the person carrying out the examination 😀 As a man I would be worried about getting reported for “inappropriate” examination. I think it could potentially put some men in a vulnerable position

I think women should be allowed the choice to be honest. I personally wouldn't have an issue with this and have been to a male gp in the past to get a lump checked which was thankfully fine. I did feel weird about it but it was better than having the worry hanging over me and I wouldn't have an issue with it in future. But some women may have experienced trauma at the hands of men or have religious needs that would mean they might not attend if it were a man. I know my mum wouldn't attend if she thought a man could be performing it. There needs to be a way for women to state that they need a female provider while allowing men to fill the gap to reduce the waiting lists.

My fabulous Male GP, who has been my GP for 30yrs, can no longer carry out intimate checks on me without a chaperone present. They do not have the staffing for a chaperone, I would be happy to have checks without one, but the rules don't allow it - so I have to go to the new, young, female GP, who does not know me.

I understand why this is the case - and my view is that the dignity and safety of all women should be a priority. There are enough cases of males HCPs abusing their position for these rules to be important. If there were men doing mammograms there really would have to be a chaperone.

This protects the women being treated AND the male HCP from unwarranted complaints. The whole process of squishing the breast into the machine can be quite brutal and undignified.

The rules really do have to protect everyone from "worst case scenario". That's how risk assessment and safeguarding works.

I couldn't care less who did it as long as they knew what they were doing.

Read what you said and tell me where it makes sense?

This isn’t asking for consultants and surgeons nor doctors. This is asking for women to accept men in a position where they can manhandle women’s breasts rather than give a woman the training required to operate some equipment.

As I said, there are many student nurses - mostly women - looking for jobs right now, after being exploited to keep wards staffed with a lifelong debt. It would not take that long to give them the training required to operate this equipment.

If it was to be seen quicker and for peace of mind a male radiographer wouldn't bother me if a chaperone was present. I didn't have a choice for a hospital gynae exam but if I was ever in that situation again I would only request it was not done by my neighbour who is a gynae consultant.

By contrast there are not that many male staff lying around.

I’ve had two babies by c section with a male surgeon, I’ve recently had two gynaecology procedures conducted by a man BUT I had women present in the room, holding my hand and supporting me.

i had my breast screening 1-1 in a locked cabin in a car park when a woman manhandled my boobs into a steel trap! If men were to do this I would want a female present increasing the staffing needs - just train more bloody women!

also it would mean many women wouldn’t attend so choice is absolutely key

To everyone saying they would only be seen by a woman, do you think that people who don’t mind should be prevented from seeing a man?

If those of us who don’t care get seen by a man then that cuts down waiting time for everyone, instead of me taking an appointment with a woman that you could have.

You should have the right to be treated by a woman but you shouldn’t have the right to delay treatment for everyone else by cutting the available staff in half.

There are a lot of things that men don't join up with female health care. It's one of the reasons female health hubs are important for us to fight for. If you have a woman seeing you who knows about hormonal changes/dietary impacts/post childbirth advice/has had a masectomy it is far more useful for most women than a man who hasn't. I've had male doctors prescribe me antidepressants for over a decade when it turned out it was my thyroid - thank you female GP I got when my male Dr was away...