The Times: hospital apologises for smear test given by transwoman

[Lamaha]

This time, the nurse didn't sue the patient for misgendering them.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-female-nhs-nurse-i-asked-for-came-with-stubble-83rq9p0gg?fbclid=IwAR0yNBECZsyROLmO2TFv1qV4qSf2OKv439JMYh0qxcR6JcwXXRcFWIf21Iw
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust 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.”

There is more needed than this.
Male HCPs should not carry out inimate examinations or seek to carry out intimate examinations without a female chaperone.
The male HCP's gender identity is irrelevent to the basis for what was & should be standard practice
The power dynamics & context are such that female patients should not be left in a position where they have to decline or agree to treatment.

Totally agree. It's not fair to put the onus on the woman to object.

The unwritten story is of all the women who just held their tongue and went ahead with their smear because they didn't want to make a fuss/hurt anyone's feelings.

Who on earth thought it was ok to put a male on smear duty? Smears are not emergency medicine, they can be organised well in advance. Women shouldn't have to be put in the position where they have to object to a care provider to their face in these circumstances, it's coercive and borders on abuse.

I wonder if men would complain if they went for a prostate check and a male bodied nurse called Mary wearing a female nurses outfit came along to do the check. Has this ever happened?

I've had intimate care from a male HCP too, but I was asked if it was ok first and not by the person about to give the intimate care - that is how it should be.

Important article shared by La Scapigliata (a Dr) recently.
The power dynamics between doctors, patients & other colleagues is a very key issue.
So is consent.

British Journal of General Practice:

'What it’s like to be a transgender patient and a GP'

Br J Gen Pract 2017; 67 (660): 313. DOI: doi.org/10.3399/bjgp17X691433
(extracts)
‘WHAT WILL WE TELL THE PATIENTS?’
I am a male to female transgendered GP partner and I transitioned fully as a transgender GP in July 2015. My journey has been long and fraught with bouts of depression, low self-esteem, dysfunctional lifestyle, and bad coping mechanisms. (continues)

My first day at work was a nerve-racking experience. I took a deep breath and walked into my surgery with a big smile. It turned out to be a satisfying experience. My staff and colleagues commented on how nice I looked, and congratulated me. One of my colleagues did not recognise me at first, thinking I was a female locum GP. But it was my patients who took me by surprise the most. No one was hostile towards me. Some thought I was the wife of Dr Kamaruddin, me, their doctor, and a lot of them thought that I was a new GP. The new patients did not ask any questions at all because they either thought I was a female GP or it did not bother them at all that I was a transgender doctor.

AN UNEXPECTEDLY WELCOME RECEPTION!
Most of my regular patients congratulated me and wished me luck, and a few of them gave me cards and little presents; some even hugged me. In the end, my staff did not have to field any awkward questions or hand out any leaflets. A lot of my patients were quite conservative — many female patients wore long clothes, or the hijab — but they allowed me to examine them despite my change. In fact, after my transition, they even allowed me to perform more intimate examinations that they did not let me to do when I was a male GP. Every single one of them refused my offer of a chaperone even when they knew that I am transgender. After the positive experience on my first day back to work, I remembered having tears in my eyes during my drive home. I was overwhelmed with emotions, and they were tears of happiness. I could not recall the last time I felt this happy." (continues)

bjgp.org/content/67/660/313

Yuck I wouldn’t of allowed it

Not all women feel able to refuse their GP.

Yes there is still the ‘Dr God’ attitude isn’t there?

I’m totally 👀 at that article... Half the patients were completely fooled into thinking they were a woman, (assumed he was his wife!) and the rest were so excited for him they bought him little presents 🤔

I think they were being kind.

Or there is a disturbing level of delusion going on

On the good doctor’s part, I mean.

To be honest, I’m not sure I was asked if I did mind but was offered a chaperone - I didn’t mind but recognise that many women might have done and didn’t feel for whatever reason, able to ask for a female. I should be more specific I think. Another examination I was informed by post that it would be performed by a male HCP and that I could decline the appointment and rebook with a female. I guess the best they feel they can do at an outpatient level.

Smears in my area are no longer performed by the GP, instead they are all done by the practice nurse. Yet to encounter a male PN and I wonder if the expectation that it would be almost certainly be a woman would make it very difficult for many women to challenge or decline the procedure.

Would having a receptionist declare to a woman booking a routine smear that the female nurse was actually a biological male and would she care to rebook or is that literal violence in this dystopia we find ourselves in?

And that story ^ validation through violation and coercion.

If it was such a surprise, how did they know to bring gifts?

Speaking purely personally (and I know other women feel differently and are entitled to their own boundaries) I wouldn't mind if my smear test was performed by a man. As long as I knew this was a possibility in advance, and that I knew I was able to request a female if I wanted.

I wouldn't mind if my smear test was performed by a transwoman... As long as I hadn't requested a female, and as long as there was no pressure of any kind put on me to ignore my own boundaries or lie to myself at a time of vulnerability.

You know who I wouldn't want to perform my smear test? Anyone who thinks their right to validation trumps my rights.

The very last person i'd want near my vagina in any circumstance is someone who feels entitled to be there.

The very last person i'd want near my vagina in any circumstance is someone who feels entitled to be there.

Why is it so very very hard, in this era of #metoo virtue signalling, for people to understand this?

Yes old article but it seems the situation has gotten worse since then.

Surely now the hospital would be under pressure to apologise to the nurse for allowing the nurse to be “misgendered”... and for not ensuring the nurse a safe workplace?