Just cant help feeling it would have saved money and been clearer to say screening services for people based on their sex!

[IwantToRetire]

This information is for trans (transgender) and non-binary people in England. It tells you about the adult NHS screening programmes that are available in England and explains who we invite for screening.

We use trans as an umbrella term to embrace the diverse range of identities outside the traditional male/female definitions. These include transgender, gender fluid and non-binary.

Full details and listings (long) at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-population-screening-information-for-transgender-people/nhs-population-screening-information-for-trans-people

Just think if created by sex it would be of use to everyone, and even educated some about screening that might need or should have.

What an utter mess. They're tying themselves in knots trying to say the right/woke thing.

Thought the nhs was over this bullshit by now

I think the point of it is that by providing comprehensive information specifically for trans/non-binary people, they can go back to just saying men or women in the public information leaflets aimed at the rest of us.

It's about trust. Lots of nb/trans people are deeply wary of attending screening, with many avoiding it altogether, and the NHS is trying to address this.

That's literally all it is. A message targeted at a vulnerable population, reassuring them they won't be discriminated against or harmed.

No, they're using language that trans/nb people use about themselves. Same as using 'women and pregnant people' - inclusive, and reassuring.

Trans/nb people tend not to attend screening, and the NHS is trying to reassure them they'll be safe. It's just trying to save lives, that's all.

Rubbish. I just perpetuates the contrived "differentness" that doesn't actually exist.

The screening services are based on actual sex. That sex exists in all of us.

And by pretending that it doesn't so that trans people dont have to acknowledge this biological fact is just sustaining an ureality, like the emperor's new clothes.

We dont have to conclude with make believe.

And the NHS has better things to do with its time let alone the increased costs.

If someone isn't in touch with reality, you dont play along with it.

This is treatment based on sex.

We all have a biological sex.

If some people want to put their health at risk by not making use of the services offered in relation to sex, that is their choice.

Why would any adult believe they would not be safe in a screening appointment? They need to grow up and start realising the world does not revolve around their identity. The only person who cares what they identify as is them. No one else gives a shiny bowel movement.

The NHS of all organisations need to stop conflating sex and gender. Their health services as based on sex so only female or male, woman or man is needed.

For services based on gender identity, additional terms should be used of course, woman and transwoman and non binary feminine people.

The wording in the NHS Population Screening guidance is a tangled mess. I can't see how anyone could read it without becoming very confused.

Safe from what?

Safe from having to confront their own physical reality by attending a sex-based screening such as a smear test?

It is not in anyone’s power to alter reality to make people feel safe from their own psychological problems.

Protecting against hurty feelz is more important than providing clear guidance on actual healthcare.

So your advice to the NHS is: pretend minorities don't exist, and be rude to them if they insist they do?

Well, thank goodness you weren't doing AIDS messaging in the 1980s.

This message has literally nothing to do with you. It's a call for a minority you're not part of to get tested for cancer. But you're still objecting to it.

Have you ever considered that hating trans people has taken over your life, and that you seek out everything to do with them - no matter what it is, even when you can't spin it as harming women - to complain about them? It's a bit sad.

But transpeople are not a minority. TIF are women and therefore are included in 51% female population. TIM are men and included in the 49% male population. Just because they “feel” different, they are still male or female and need the screenings relevant to their sex. If they want to deny reality because they feel “unsafe”, that’s on them.

"We understand and respect that people identify in many different ways; but we categorise and refer to sex-specific health needs of all patients according to their biological (birth) sex, to ensure that everybody is offered all of the services that are relevant to them and are not offered those that are not."

Simple, clear and sensitive.

The NHS has shed loads of leaflets that are designed to make healthy services accessible to lots of different groups in the population - for trans people, for immigrants, for minority religious groups, for different sexualities etc. Trans people aren't unique in this. The idea is that better communication saves lives and money, as lots of treatments are cheaper and more effective if delivered earlier. It's a win/win for everyone.

"Women and pregnant people" is not inclusive and reassuring to women who understand that they are women. It tells me that the HCP I might encounter is quite dumb, and places this kind of silliness above actual care and safety of women. And given we know actual women are fucked over from puberty to pregnancy to menopause to death by the NHS, this really matters.

I don’t have an issue with this as it’s clearly stated who the guidance is aimed at. But all other guidance should just be on the basis of sex.

I think the might be one of the most ridiculous arguments I’ve ever read on here. Following your logic there can be no minorities because every single person is part of the 51% or 49% 🤔

It’s cleanly not as simple as if you’re male you have these screenings and if you’re female you have these screenings. If it was that simple, the NHS wouldn’t recommend trans women to get breast screening or that trans men don’t need it if they’ve had top surgery

For anyone who hasn't actually clicked the link, it's actually really useful -- it has very specific information for particular circumstances, like trans men registered as male who might not be sure whether they still need breast screening if they've had mastectomies, or whether they'll be invited if registered as male. I imagine it would come up if you searched 'trans man post-top surgery do i need breast screening' and it gives you a clear answer which involves asking your doctor about the amount of tissue you have remaining.

None of this information would be available to a confused person if everything just said 'get the screenings relevant to your biological sex'. This page is nothing to do with me and I wouldn't go looking for it, but contains info that I imagine I would go looking for if I was a trans man worried about a lump in a post-surgery chest.

Noo, as has been told to me, trans identity is very different from other characteristics such as race or sexuality so must be treated differently. Please explain what is the difference between a male with a trans identity and one without a trans identity that makes one a minority and one not? Both are male. Just because one claims to be a woman does not remove that. If a Tim won’t get a prostate check because he thinks he’s a woman and doesn’t need one… that’s on him isn’t it.

But it would be available. Unless you’re saying transpeople truly believe they have changed sex so don’t need sex specific screenings.

I don't understand what you're saying? A trans man has not changed sex, he is female. However he might have different circumstances to other females, such as not having any breasts any more. That is why this info is helpful. If you're female but you don't have any or much breast tissue, you might not be sure whether you a) can still get screening if you're registered as male or b) can get breast cancer still. This document is really clear about all of that. Questions non-TI females wouldn't have.