Allow Male Workers to perform mammograms and breast screening

[CrakdEgg]

OK, so the Society & College of Radiographers have their annual delegates conference, where members bring forward motions for the union to lobby on.
In the past they have passed motions to 'remove gendered language' from health communications for inclusivity - you know, 'pregnant people' and the like. They then lobby behind the scenes to the Government to follow these requests.

This year we have this motion -

Allow Male Workers to Perform Mammograms

Workforce shortages: there are 15 posts for mammographers on NHS jobs. In the UK.

But are we bothered? Do we not want males in this space, or does it not matter because we have male gynaecologists? Or will it dissuade women from attending?

I am interested to hear other people's opinions. My instincts say 'no way Jose', but I am interested in keeping males out of female spaces, so I accept my bias.

Thoughts?

The radiographer who did my mammogram last week disputed that there was any shortage, she said lots of women want to do the job as it’s 9-5 Mon-Fri, which is pretty cushy for the NHS.

The place I go to is a separate site to the main hospital, a purpose built breast screening unit. It is all female staff throughout. It occurs to me it's not just patients who will be impacted - if men join the staff the whole vibe of the place will be different. Plus presumably they will then have to provide separate toilets and changing facilities.

Well, I'm just back from my annual mammogram and can still confidently say there's no way I would want a man carrying out this procedure for me.

Me neither.

Or an added bonus if a man is that way inclined.

Why can't these men just leave us alone. It's relentless, this insinuating themselves into our private places all the time. Why won't they get out of the toilet, stop pushing into everywhere we are, get their hands off our bodies, just take no for an answer. Just go away! I'm sick of it. I'm sick of it.

I was surprised to find only women do it currently. We have male gynaecologists after all. I’d be fine with it but people should have a choice.

Do you also think that about gynaecologists, out of interest? Of other medical professionals who might heed to examine your breast or genitals?

I’ve never had a male gynaecologist push up against me or handle my vag in the same way the radiographers have manipulated my boobs onto the plates when carrying out my mammograms. Even when I had one fine needle aspiration, the male doctor who did it (under close supervision of a female nurse chaperone) did not touch my breasts in the same way as the radiographer.

Never seen a male gynaecologist. Never will.

I had a wonderful male Irish gynaecologist in 1999 after unknowingly falling pregnant with the Mirena coil fitted. I remember him being really angry for me as I was very unwell. He said these bloody coils they butcher women.
Massive contrast to the female registrar who had stormed out after telling me I was pregnant - I already had 3 children one a baby. In a knee jerk reaction I said oh no I can't possibly have another baby. She said
I don't believe in allowing abortions so I won't be seeing you again.
Even to this day I feel angry that I never got to say anything back to her.
I knew nothing about ectopic pregnancies. The baby was in my tube so I couldn't have had it anyway.
Sorry for my rant but I'm still triggered by her dismissal after all this time!

Just some male gynaecologist:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-obstetriciangynecologist-robert-hadden-sentenced-20-years-prison-sexually

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-56532068
USC to pay $1bn over abuse claims against gynaecologist George Tyndall

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/05/california-prison-gynecologist-abuse

https://www.deccanherald.com/world/norway-gynaecologist-accused-of-raping-sexually-abusing-87-women-during-medical-examinations-3290932

https://www.levylaw.com/gynecologist-sex-abuse/

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/former-gynaecologist-convicted-of-sex-assaults-on-patients-at-london-hospitals-a3279636.html

https://medium.com/the-written-mosaic/gynecology-student-guilty-of-rape-unpunished-due-to-good-grades-and-promising-future-ed642390496b

https://asianews.network/police-arrest-ob-gyn-for-alleged-sexual-abuse-of-patients-in-indonesias-west-java/

https://www.france24.com/en/france/20211125-too-little-done-to-combat-obstetric-and-gynaecological-violence-against-women

https://www.timesofisrael.com/gynecologist-to-be-indicted-following-accusations-he-sexually-abused-patients/

https://www.heraldscotland.com/default_content/12442531.sex-assault-consultant-sacked/

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/lawsuit-filed-gynecologist-accused-of-sexual-abuse/

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/disgraced-gynaecologist-guilty-sex-assaults-8506213

https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1262201/gynecologist-sentenced-to-73-years-for-serial-rapes-of-patients/

https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/health/former-peterborough-city-hospital-gynaecologist-struck-off-for-sexually-harassing-patient-4866051

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-23/tas-obstetrician-charged-with-indecent-assault/105330816

https://www.ajbstevens.com.au/a-prominent-gynaecologist-has-been-charged-with-sexual-assault-have-you-been-affected/

https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/chicago-gynecologist-fabio-ortega-sexual-abuse-cook-county-skokie

https://www.dailynews.com/2021/05/24/former-ucla-gynecologist-arrested-on-21-counts-alleging-sexual-assaults-of-patients/

https://www.itv.com/news/channel/2025-02-17/doctor-ruled-fit-to-practise-wouldnt-have-passed-background-checks?fbclid=IwY2xjawKdzE9leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHmwsxiGcvw8jFnsnxneiFALud-7-uLDM3tALzH8GSktVUEjHstOuxI22ZYHP_aem_gxADDW6qAxL49xEoUxRi1Q

I too had my mammogram today, and I was in and out within 5 minutes. The two people working there were both women, though I barely had time to notice. There was not much handling of me.

I feel the same. My partner was suffering ED for a while after being prescribed testosterone for a hormonal problem (the cause was elevated estrogen) and he was reluctant when he saw they'd booked him in with a female GP.

However, he decided to just go rather than wait three weeks for another appt. He said she was much less dismissive than the male doctors he'd seen who were making comments about 'not being 21yo anymore', which was absurd as he'd gone from fine to flop city within the blink of an eye.

Having recently endured a male Gp put his fingers up my arse and Fanny, I can probably endure a male doing a breast scan. I would however be far more comfortable with a woman medic in both situations

I had one cut my perineum and pull a baby out of my vagina. He then inserted his hand into my womb to manually detach my placenta. It was the most physically brutal thing that’s ever happened to me. I can’t remember it crossing my mind that he was male (the anaesthetist was female you administered the epidural). I guess I just wonder whether people are concerned about the mammogram thing because it’s new? We have male medical professionals do all kinds of intimate stuff to us, after all.

Either way - I think it’s important people have a choice but based on the response to these threads in the past, a fair chunk of women would be ok with it so seems sensible to allow men to perform them but give an easy way for women to opt for a female operative (in advance so they are confident when they arrive that it will be a woman doing it).

At hospital with lots of people around it’s not such a big deal for me (others will feel differently) to have a male do a breast exam or take a biopsy as that’s quick and perfunctory. But until I’d had a routine mammogram I didn’t quite understand. They’re not done in hospital - it’s a sound proof windowless box around the back of a supermarket where you’re alone with someone embraces you and then immobilise you by putting your boobs in a clamp. Adding a male to that already difficult situation would put too many women off routine screening. They’re just not the best people for that particular job imo

That’s fine and you should have the option to select a woman. I couldn’t care less, so it seems reasonable to allow men to perform the service for people like me, but not people like you.

Ive had male doctors intimately exam me both vaginally and analy

i have also had at least one male doctor inset his hand to manually remove my placenta….that thing was stuck tight! Theatre job in the end

had a lump in my breast which had a male doctor do the breast exam

still not having a male do a mammogram, feels very different to me, and as has been said upthread it doesn’t appear that there is any necessity to be recruiting males for this particular procedure

Sure - but how would that work in practice? There would be delays and extra difficulties /costs. Screening rates would drop. At present you don’t even get a choice of appointment time in our area so booking and shift planning would need a complete overhaul. Then do you need extra staff - in an isolated workplace di you need a chaperone for the chaperone? And so it goes on. It’s not really about personal choice imo. The question is - what benefit to everyone would there be to justify inclusion of males in that profession? I personally would want that measured on health outcome and cost

As mammograms are largely a preventative screening, you wouldn’t know if you had a lump until you’d had the screening.

You may think you’d be ok with a man doing this (it sounds like you haven’t had one) but don’t belittle other women who know they are not ok with this.

Most men in the NHS are good and decent but there are some (a worrying high number) that are sex offenders and rapists. Look at the vast number of rapes/sexual assaults committed in hospitals BY MALE STAFF (from memory it’s approx 6000 a year) and even of the tiny number of male midwives there are now several convictions for sex offences.

I’d look into this a bit more as you obviously don’t have enough info to form a full opinion.

Thank you for sharing. I couldn’t click through on all the links but I can add the male anaesthetist who was caught on camera inserting his penis into a woman’s mouth while they were having a c section please.

I think the camera was placed due to suspicions about his behaviour. Thankfully not the UK.

Some men (obviously not all) are attracted to roles where they have access to women when extremely vulnerable and present a significantly higher risk of offending compared with a female hcp. The NHS should be incentivising women to take up these radiographer jobs with pay and conditions, not men with access to women’s bodies.

Btw did you also include the terrible case of the elderly stroke victim who was raped in her hospital bed (most likely by a male staff member but I don’t think there been a conviction) and bled to death from a haemorrhage from a huge tear in her vaginal wall?

I wouldn’t care about the sex of the surgeon if my life was at risk. However, my life isn’t at risk when I’m called for a mammogram in a community screening unit.

The risks of having a 2 tier system where women are forced to wait for, or travel to other, all-female units have already been discussed on here.

The fact that a system could be implemented poorly could be a reason not to do anything. They just need to get it right, it’s not that hard. As I’ve already said, I (like many others) wouldn’t care, others would. People need to have the option.

I had a male consultant when my son was born after everything went very wrong and it became an emergency situation. I will be forever grateful to him and his expertise.

Still wouldn't want a man doing my mammogram.