But say you are a trans woman (I dont mean a transsexual) and a doctor-surely you would say your gender is woman. And you could have a penis. Or am I splitting hairs too much?
I do have to say it is one of the most important times for a woman to feel safe - to be able to choose to see a doctor without a penis.
This is an important case to consider
December 2017
'NHS trust apologises to woman after ‘nurse with stubble and deep voice’ tried to take smear test'
The NHS has apologised to a woman who was left “embarrassed and distressed” after a nurse with stubble and a deep voice was going to carry out her cervical smear test at hospital.
(extract)
The woman requested a female NHS nurse to perform the intimate procedure but was dismayed when a staff member with “an obviously male appearance” greeted her. When the patient pointed out the mistake, the nurse replied: “My gender is not male. I’m a transsexual.”
“[It was] weird where somebody says to you: ‘My gender is not male’ and you think: ‘Well, what does that even mean? You are clearly a man’.”
The woman declined to go ahead with the examination – given to women aged 25 to 49 every three years and every five years for women aged 50 to 64 – and complained about her treatment. She stressed her complaint was not about the nurse’s appearance or gender status.
It is understood the nurse self-identified as a woman but had not been employed on that basis. He saw the patient only because of a clerical error. “[It was] weird where somebody says to you: ‘My gender is not male’ and you think: ‘Well, what does that even mean? You are clearly a man’, the woman told the Sunday Times. “[The nurse] had an obviously male appearance . . . close-cropped hair, a male facial appearance and voice, large number of tattoos and facial stubble.” The patient said it was “bad enough for a fortysomething mother”, but the effect of such an incident on her 17-year-old daughter would have been much worse" (continues)
James Caspian, a psychotherapist who specialises in working with transgender people, said self-certification would create many similar situations arising in the future. “Politicians have not thought through all the implications of allowing self-certification,” he said.
The patient has requested anonymity for herself and the clinic because of fears it or the nurse could be criticised.
The appointment for was on September 16 last year in an NHS clinic run by the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust. It said: “We apologised to this patient for the recording error and because the staff member accepted they didn’t manage the situation appropriately; the patient needed to feel listened to. Trust policy is to consider seriously all requests for clinicians of a particular gender.”
more at: [[https://inews.co.uk/news/health/nhs-woman-transgender-nurse-smear-test/]]