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?

That’s fine - you should obviously have a choice.

'Embarrassing' isn't really the word. I have only had women doing my mammograms. I find the procedure very difficult. Having my breasts squeezed as flat as possible by a machine is excruciatingly distressing and I cannot watch it being done. I apologise in advance but I keep my eyes closed throughout. I will never consent to this being done by a man.

The body representing radiologists are the ones proposing it so I would assume they would also play a part in implementing the service in a way that works for patients.

Have you had a routine mammogram?

They are now usually done in mobile units in car parks to increase accessibility. It’s usually just one person doing admin/reception at the front and a mammographer in the room with the equipment.

It’s not like being in a hospital with lots of people around and plenty of space for a chaperone.

You can’t just chop and change staff throughout the day.

The whole point is to get people with no symptoms to attend. We know there isn’t a shortage of female mammographers, but 40% of women don’t take up their invitation to attend.

Why create additional barriers? Who benefits?

They (the NHS) won’t be able to get it right without huge investment - all to accommodate the wishes of men. How do you propose giving women attending a mobile screening unit or the breast clinic who don’t want men carrying out their mammogram exactly the same access to the units or clinics as women who don’t mind if a man is carrying it out, for example?

The fact I’m (a person who has nothing to do with organising healthcare) is not proposing a solution is not a reason for you (or anyone else) to determine it’s not possible.

No, that’s not how it works. The motion that was passed was simply that - a motion. It’s now up to the devolved NHS bodies to decide whether they implement it.

Remember also that there was no consultation with women attending mammograms before one person tabled tge motion - and since the numbers of women attending screening appointments have decreased since the motion was passed, that suggests women generally are not in favour of it.

Come on - you must have some thoughts as to how this would work in practice, given you think it’s a great idea.

I’ve worked for the NHS for more than 30 years and attended breast clinics and mammograms for almost 10 years. I’m really curious as to how you see them operating in practice to ensure complete equity of access. Just an outline would be fine.

They have a system that works for patients.

Ha. I wouldn’t be too sure of that. They already see this as a way of providing career opportunities for men above providing a safe and comfortable service for women, explicitly so, as confirmed by their spokeswoman’s interview on World at One.

Fine having a man at the business end of giving birth. At that point I'm beyond caring and it's not in any way an intimate procedure as the whole world is looking at you and ultimately there's two of you going through it together if you include the baby!

I find mammograms and smears very difficult and a completely different kettle of fish. It's just too intimate a procedure and I can predict an awful lot of women would "forget" to go if a man is carrying it out unfortunately.

Oh, and I got a positive written response from my MP

I went to my GP yesterday because I had a new mark on my breast. It turned out to be nothing to worry about but while I was perfectly fine with her inspecting it & checking both my breasts for lumps I’d have been a lot more uncomfortable with a man.
I’d have gone through with it but been tense the entire time, & that’s just feeling for lumps, not all the squishing and squidging that a mammogram seems to involve.

Icanttakethisanymore if there were a long waiting list and some women were being denied routine mammograms because of a shortage of female staff, I think you would have a point. The goal here would be better patient care.

However it was clarified that the point of the proposal was to increase career opportunities for male staff.

Girljulian above says she's never had a mammogram, so I completely disregard her opinion. The fact that she talks of 'embarrassment' tells me a lot.

We're talking here of screening, aren't we? That concept where you call in a particular group of symptomless people based on characteristics, typically age & sex. We aren't talking about diagnostic interventions, when you have symptoms that need checking out. So comparisons with having a male obstetrician during a complex labour and birth are not relevant here.

Go back to first principles - what is the point of screening? To catch the condition at an early stage and start treatment to stop it in its tracks, I'd say. So the cohort needs to be encouraged take part by whatever means - making locations accessible, extensive opening hours, friendly and welcoming staff etc.

Any professional group that thinks inserting men into the mammogram screening service is a positive step is not acting in the interests of its clients but in the interests of staff, a thing we're seeing more and more in the NHS now.

And comparisons with women carrying out prostate checks etc are just not relevant.

The power imbalance is completely different. I doubt those men feel completely at the mercy of the female Dr, either in terms of physical strength or societal power.

Benny Hill, Page 3, top shelf mags, lad’s mags.

There isn’t really an equivalent for men’s bottoms.

I think it’s both @Rightsraptor - those women are of screening age and those who have found a lump or some other indication that there is an issue that potentially needs to be addressed. As mammograms are carried out on the former and often (depending on presentation) at the latter, inserting men into that process will impact numbers attending and equity of access.

All because it’s been decided - with no consultation - that it’s ‘unfair’ on male radiographers as they don’t have the same job opportunities. They can do one, quite frankly.

In a nutshell.

They are now usually done in mobile units in car parks to increase accessibility.

I did wonder about accessibility yesterday- I assume there is the option of going to hospital, because that van didn't look like it had any wheelchair access, and I'm not sure the steps would have been easy if you were wobbly on your feet or visually impaired. I don't know how adjustable the radiography machine is if you can't stand, either.

I wondered about that too - definitely no wheelchair access.

I had BC and cervical cancer 5 years ago. So I have plenty of tests.
Last mammogram I went too I was asked if a male trainee could be in the room.
But if I felt uncomfortable that was fine.
I don't mind who does it as long as it gets done.
Walked into the room and 'Jack' asked again if I was ok with him being there.
Both Jack and Sarah who was the operator were so lovely to me and were very professional.
Over the years I have had plenty of men (doctors) look at my private areas it is now a normal event.

I think people are underestimating the distruption in the admin process a change like this would make.

At the moment women are given an appointment and they can choose to take it, reschedule or decline.

If they introduce male HCP, they can keep the choice the same - but risk more women declining appointments, or turning down the test once its clear a man is going to perform it.

To avoid this, they will have to implement a new appointment system to know in advance which women want a female professional. That means contacting every single women over 50, and getting and recording their consent. This will need another field on databases.

They can choose to ignore this problem, but then have to acknowledged that the focus is mens career development, not mainting the number of women attending screening.

They usually have a lay-on 1:12 portable ramp. It's just not attached all the time. Sometimes there's a lift that comes out from underneath - that's usually got black and yellow chevrons along one side.

I stopped pasting them here after about eight pages of Google search (lots of repetition of individuals) but each page had more male gynaecologist arrested or convicted of sexual assaults, some with hundreds of know victims. I didn’t specify sex but not a single female gynaecologist came up.