NHS Staff Told to Ask Men if They Are Pregnant Before X-Rays

NHS X-ray operators are now asking men if they are pregnant, thanks to new inclusivity rules. The Telegraph has the story.

The guidance was written after an incident in which a trans man who was unknowingly pregnant had a CT scan, and tells staff to be inclusive of transgender, non-binary and intersex patients by not making assumptions about people.

The radiation from X-ray, CT and MRI scans, as well as cancer treatments, can be dangerous to unborn babies, but forms designed to be inclusive have caused confusion and anger among patients and pose a risk to their safety, according to NHS staff.

Radiographers told this publication the measures had left men storming out of appointments and women in tears because of “invasive” fertility questions. They say patients are being asked to fill out pregnancy forms stating their sex at birth, preferred name and pronouns, and read “ridiculous” statements about people who are born with variations in sex characteristics.

Campaigners said the practice was “humiliating” for patients and called on NHS trusts to “return to common sense”.

One radiographer claimed a man on a two-week urgent cancer pathway “was so annoyed by the questions on the form, he shouted, he left the department and didn’t actually have a scan”.

“There is an unnecessary risk for these patients if they do get so annoyed and don’t have the scan.”

In another example, an inpatient requiring daily scans for a week after oesophageal surgery had “a sense of doubt” instilled by being asked daily whether he was a man at the radiology department.

Women have been left in tears by questions about their fertility, including having to explain why they could not be pregnant, while patients of all backgrounds have been affronted or embarrassed by the suggestion that their sex was not obvious, staff say.

“We’ve had women who have had terrible miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and we’re reminding them of that trauma,” a source said. “Instead of just asking ‘is there any chance you could be pregnant?’ and them choosing to say ‘no’, they’re now having to say, ‘I had two ectopic pregnancies, and I don’t have ovaries anymore’ and we then write that down.”

Worth reading in full.