Why is my GP survey collecting SOME ‘important’data?

[KittenKong]

I got a survey which asks lots of questions. In the ‘questions about you’ section - to help them see how experiences vary between different groups’… yea you’ve got it -

Which of the following best describes you
Female/male/non-binary/prefer to self describe/prefer not to say

Is your gender of the same as the sec you were registered at bith
Yes/no/prefer not to say

Ethnic group
Age
Family support
Parent status
Are you deaf
Smoking habits
Sexuality
Religion

So they don’t cover sex…

If it's the GP Patient Survey, this is their explanation:

www.gp-patient.co.uk/faq

"Sex
In the Equality Act sex is a reference to a man (male) or to a woman (female). The protected characteristic of sex is being measured in the 2022 survey as part of the following question:

Which of the following best describes you?

• Female
• Male
• Non-binary
• Prefer to self-describe
• Prefer not to say

The question wording is based on questions used in other settings and is based upon a huge amount of research, stakeholder engagement and data analysis."

What makes no sense to me is that this is mixed up in the gender reassignment question rather than a question on its own. In addition, no one is recorded as non-binary or a self description on their birth certificate (or GRC), so why give those an as option for a person's sex?

The questions should be - "what is your sex, as recorded on your birth certificate or GRC if applicable? Male/Female/Prefer not to say" followed by an optional question "If you have a gender identity, is your gender identity the same as the sex you were registered at birth? Yes/no/prefer not to say"

Although even that's not quite right, as gender identity /= sex, and so how could you have a gender identity that is the same as your physical sex??

It just annoyed me. And they also want to know how many hour do a week I work.

Apparently it was developed by the university of Exeter medical school and the uni of Cambridge. So a medical school and ‘the brightest’? Duh.