Changes to NHS patient record; Birth Sex

[InvisibleToTheNakedEye]

NC as potentially outing. This was in my work email a few days ago.

“We're pleased to inform you that from the 16th February you will now be able to enter a patient's birth sex value by following the instructions via the following quick reference guide:

• Setting a patient's Birth Sex value

As mentioned in the QRG, it is vital that the consent form is completed before amending the Birth Sex value. What this means for you: As a result of this change, you can now document a pregnancy for a patient whose Admin Sex is not Female. Laboratory gender-based reference ranges can now be based on a patient's Birth Sex. Users involved in patient care can now make informed decisions using the Birth Sex value where relevant.”

I mean, as far as I’m concerned Birth Sex is always the most relevant, but I guess this is a tiny step in the right direction as it acknowledges that Sex and Gender Identity are not the same thing.

If they used the word gender instead of "admin sex" I think it would be less confusing

True, or Gender Identity, but it’s still a positive step.

They cant improve by using gender

The Admin Sex field is FUBARed.

It was allowed to become a mishmash of sex and gender and testing results may lead to clinical error which will be blamed on staff not the muppet who decided its a good idea to fake medical data.

Laboratory gender-based reference ranges can now be based on a patient's Birth Sex.

The employers language is still shity but reflecting the fact that if
• a female hads decided to mark her self as male the labs will be benchmarked against a male safe range
• a male has decided to mark himself as a female the labs will be benchmarked against a female safe range

The staff must now check a second field to see if its a woman
And the system reporting needs to amend any output on pregancy to be
Admin and Birth
so
Female and blank
Female and male (input error)
Male and female

I think this is a good thing overall. I also think it could be helpful if “birth sex” is the phrase used when talking about sex and gender more generally. One of the reasons I think we’ve ended up with these confused forms and surveys is because gender has historically been used as a more “polite” term to sex due to it also being an abbreviation of sexual intercourse.

Its a start but still a major risk to a TIF for a clinical mistake

The current medic is having to look to 2 fields to work out which sex they are dealing with.

it is vital that the consent form is completed before amending the Birth Sex value.

I would have assumed the employer should not have dumped the Admin Sex data into the Birth Sex data but "amending" said they did.

The check has to be
If A=F and B=F/( ) likely female
If A=F and B=M/( ) likely male but could be female
If A=M and B=M/( ) likely male but could be a female.

The system must have had a logic block on female only testing input and on male only testing input.
All this has done is allowed inputing on the B=F/( ) Field by allowing an overwriting the original rule.

Plus that still only applies if the TIF gives permission.

The same professional risk remains with the medical staff but moves the responsibility of the data capture down off management. Avoidable risk becomes human error.

Adding this here but maybe it should have its own thread.

Fund research into desexed language in women’s health

We have observed words like “girls,” “women,” “mothers” and “breastfeeding” being replaced or added to with terms like “people with a cervix”, “birthing people” and “chestfeeding” (desexed language).

It seems these changes have been made without research to determine impact, if they are understood or acceptable.

We don’t know how many women misunderstand desexed language or are more confused about their body because of it. We don’t know how many reject messages with desexed language or whose health is harmed. We don’t know the impact on women with low English skills, education, or health knowledge. We urge the Government to fund research on the impact of desexed language in women’s health and how to best communicate with our diverse population of women, including those with special language needs.

Can be found at https://petition.parliament.uk