Early last year, I went to my GP with symptoms of uterine cancer. Was told that I was on the two-week pathway by my GP.
Several weeks later, phoned Fife's gynae dept. Was told that it was at least a 16 wk wait because I'm post-menopausal, but would probably be longer because I'd requested a woman doctor. (I was 'interfered with' by a teenage boy when I was 7, but there's also the fact that a couple of years previously I had an absolutely brutal experience at the hands of a male gynae at the Vic.)
I can't recount the precise conversation, and this was before Sandie Peggie's ordeal hit the news. Even so, there was something strange about the way that my request for a female doctor was framed.
I heard myself blurting out that it wasn't anything political, but I'd had a previous bad experience...
Anyway, I got an appointment with a female gynae at Queen Margaret at about 14 wks. Biopsy was done and I was then referred to Minor Ops for a hysteroscopy.
The appointment came much more quickly, followed by a phone call from a gynae secretary, apologising that she'd not seen my request for a female doctor.
It looked like a different name from the bloke who'd hurt me and I was obviously concerned about the possibility of cancer, so I accepted the appointment with the male doctor. As it turned out, the rest of his team was female and he was absolutely brilliant.
The point that I'm making in this rambling post - and maybe I am reading too much into my conversations - is that I think that the Upton case has had ripples right through NHS Fife.