Dr Upton in the news again

[Sparkyduchess]

I see the lovely Dr Upton is in the news again, who didn’t see this coming 🙄

i feel for the woman facing this, and troubling that she was worried she’d be bullied into accepting treatment from him

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16235793/Doctor-quit-UK-Peggie-trans-row-centre-gender-storm-Australia-known-Lis.html

Still waiting for your foolproof system for identifying cis- and transpeople.

The woman was in Emergency. It’s not possible to request the sex of a treating doctor in Emergency.

He really doesn't like women, so I am not remotely surprised.

It's perfectly possible to request it. It may not be possible to provide it at that point, but you can certainly request it.

Lis will not be able to pretend he's female, which is a positive.

Even if she’s Muslim and says her objections are religious?
You sure about that?

And if the context meant that the religious lady’s request was refused, what are the chances that she’d be considered to be in the wrong for having made it in the first place?

Isnt it far more likely that the hospital would be excusing itself for not having been able to cater to her needs more fully?

I agree that it’s the hospital that needs to have clear policies.

If their policy is that patients cannot express a preference for same sex healthcare they should make that clear.

However, this seems to be a countrywide legislative problem.

Niceness aside,
Any doctor who doesn't understand basic human biology can never be a good doctor.

The likelihood of there being no actual women doctors in the department is also practically zero. It’s incredibly unlikely it was all men on shift at the time of the patient needing treatment.

All we know is that the woman requested another doctor. That is fine and reasonable in a medical setting. Her husband stayed with her for support, which is perfectly normal.

We don't know the specifics. The Daily Mail has done a lot of colouring in here, and I assume some of it is outside the lines.

To me, it looks most likely there has been some miscommunication, and a second opinion is needed. It might be because Dr Upton is not Australian. I have worked as a medical provider in Australia, and some older people just like to be treated by people from their own community. You can tell this because their demeanour changes when you start speaking.

I don’t know the situation in Australia, but in the U.K. patients can to refuse treatment if they have capacity to do so and consent must be informed.

“All the actual issues affecting actual women remain the priority”

Fixed that for you

That’s interesting. What do you mean by “their own community”? Would anyone with an Australian accent do, or do you mean something more specific? Say, Greek Australians would want a Greek Aussie doctor (and if so, wouldn’t a native Greek doctor be as good or better?)

Women’s Forum Australia CEO Rachael Wong said: ‘A woman in hospital should not have to defend her boundaries from the very people entrusted with her care.
‘The New South Wales health minister must urgently investigate why a vulnerable woman seeking emergency care felt she needed her husband’s protection to ensure her wish to be treated by a female doctor was respected'.

It seems there is slightly more to this than colouring in from the DM.

As I said earlier, it’s entirely possible to ask for a female doctor, but one may not be available. It’s also possible to ask for a chaperone.

In an ED environment, especially a small one, getting seen and moved onto a ward (if required) is the priority. In the ED, any doctor contact is fleeting really.

You said "It’s not possible to request the sex of a treating doctor in Emergency"

And you know this how? I live nearby. The hospital is tiny and so is the ED. My grandmother died there.

“It might be because Dr Upton is not Australian.”

This seems unlikely. As an Australian, I have been well used to expecting recently immigrated doctors. Even in the 70s in rural communities there has been doctors who have immigrated to Australia being employed in those communities. It is more likely that the woman correctly identified Upton’s sex category and wanted a female doctor.

As NotBad says, it is a regional hospital and the A&E department would have more than one doctor on shift. If there were no female doctors on shift at all, then that is also an issue that needs to be considered by NSW Health.

You can ask all you like, but it’s very, very unlikely your wishes will granted in a small, busy ED. In a ward, perhaps yes. In the ED, no.

That's not what you said. You were very clear in your post that it was not possible to make that request.

200+ bed is not tiny though.

It is a reasonable sized regional hospital.

I think the imagined situation is that the patient asks for a female doctor and is told that Dr Upton is the female doctor.

Whether or not this would happen in practice, Upton's expressed opinions in court and Australian law suggest it might.

This is why it is important to have clear laws and policies so that everyone knows where they stand.

Yep - not exactly some tiny outback hospital! mnclhd.health.nsw.gov.au/hospital/port-macquarie-base-hospital/

I've got no time for Dr Upton and the treatment of Sandie Peggie was appalling.

However you are totally right here. It's a non story. Literally nothing happened beyond a lady going to a hospital and a Dr doing their job in said hospital.

Because the sex ratio of doctors in Australia is almost a 50:50 split, and a hospital that has a 24 hour ACEM-accredited ED is likely to be staffed with a roster of both emergency trainees and general trainees.

So on the basis of probabilities, the likelihood of there being not a single actual female doctor of any grade working that particular shift, is low.

Besides, it would have been mentioned if there were no women available.

It is a level five regional hospital. It would be a very serious issue for NSW Health if not one female doctor was available at the time.

There will be patients coming in by ambulance from quite a distance to there I would imagine. It is between Coffs and Newcastle so it would be busy enough as a ED.