The country’s top politicians have failed to answer basic questions of biology which a toddler could dispatch with more aplomb.
Keir Starmer refused to answer whether a woman can have a penis, when speaking to LBC’s Nick Ferrari. Rishi Sunak floundered when Julia Hartley-Brewer asked him to define a woman. He deferred to the Prime Minister’s words, delivered in the House of Commons last week.
And to be fair to Boris Johnson, he gave an excellent answer, boldly going where other politicians fear to tread, by asserting that “when it comes to distinguishing between a man and a woman, the basic facts of biology remain overwhelmingly important” although “extreme sensitivity, tact, love and care” are required to recognise people who transition in their gender.
There, that wasn’t so hard was it? Honest and nuanced. Accurate and considerate.
You may wonder why this is such a big deal. The problem is that this confusion about gender has real world consequences. It is affecting our national institutions and our lives. Just recently, a trans woman (that is someone born male who identifies as a woman) won a woman’s swimming competition in the US. Here in the UK, a transgender male sexually attacked female inmates in a women’s prison.
And now we learn that some hospitals are asking men if they are pregnant before they have scans or cancer treatment. This peculiar state of affairs is thanks to guidance from the Society of Radiographers, about how to be “inclusive” of all genders.
Radiotherapy treatment could harm an unborn baby and patient safety is the top priority – but does this question really need to be asked of men? In most cases it is quite evident what sex someone is. Where there is doubt then a question could be asked, of course. Or perhaps the radiographer could refer to the patient’s notes?
This is where we hit an astonishing problem: patient information now records ‘gender identity’ and not biological sex. They are both important, so why not collect data on both? Why doesn’t sex appear in our patient records or in NHS data sets anymore? How has this been allowed to happen and who’s behind these changes?
I could call my GP and say I am now a man, and my records would be adjusted accordingly, no questions asked.
Biological sex matters in healthcare, radiography is just one example. Accurate data is important. Because the NHS is not collecting and storing accurate data it has to ask men if they are pregnant. This is also why some trans women (who are male) get called up for cervical smear tests and some trans men (who are female) do not. This is obviously a waste of resources and it means people are not getting the healthcare they deserve. It’s also nonsense.
It may satisfy some woke activists but it obviously does not work for patients. The NHS needs to focus on bigger priorities and reality.
There were 4.24 million people on NHS waiting lists at the start of the pandemic. By January 2022 that number had grown to 6.1 million. To make matters worse, there is also a growing hidden backlog of patients that require care but have either not yet been to the doctor, or who have had referrals cancelled.
According to the British Medical Association, there were over 30 million fewer outpatient attendances between April 2020 and January 2022. Worryingly, the number of people seen by cancer specialists after an urgent GP referral has fallen from the target of 90% (normally achieved prior to the pandemic) to 75%.
As this backlog comes out of hiding, waiting lists will grow even higher. Indeed, this is why Sajid Javid told us when he was first appointed to the role of Secretary of State for Health and Social Care that he was focussed on clearing these grim lists.
National Insurance has increased by 1.25% with the introduction of the Health and Social Care levy. This tax grab must be justified by reducing the record, post-Covid treatment backlog and improving patient health.
Just two years ago the nation clapped for the NHS and pasted rainbow posters in windows. Now public satisfaction in the NHS is plummeting and at a 25 year low. For the first time ever, more people are unhappy with their GP, rather than happy, according to The British Social Attitudes survey, sponsored by The King’s Fund and Nuffield Trust.
In yet another survey, Ispos and King’s College London found that 52% of Brits think that the ability of the NHS to provide a good service to patients has got worse. Just wait till they hear that men are being asked if they are pregnant before they undergo cancer care.
The fact that the NHS has been infected with this topsy turvy gender madness right now could hardly be worse for public trust.
It is difficult to speak out on matters of gender ideology without being accused of transphobia. But we can’t let well-intentioned ideas about inclusivity compromise patient care and reality itself. NHS managers and politicians need to remember that “the basic facts of biology remain overwhelmingly important”, as the PM said.
Sajid Javid promised to clear waiting lists. He has a huge task ahead and he can’t start soon enough. He’ll make better progress if the NHS records basic biological data.
The NHS needs to stop asking silly questions, and politicians need to be better at answering them.
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Author Laura Dodsworth
