Follow the evidence

NHS staff told to apologise for using ‘wrong’ pronouns Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust issued an 18-page diversity and inclusion policy forcing medics to accept patients’ personal pronouns. Should not confront patients using single-sex facilities regardless of their appearance. The trust’s trans policy, which came into effect in February last year according to the Daily Mail, said staff must say sorry to patients if they made mistakes relating to a patient’s pronouns. It also ordered them to make a “commitment to try harder” if they made mistakes about patients’ preferred pronouns. Victoria Atkins, Health Secretary “I am crystal clear: biological sex matters, and the language used by the NHS needs to recognise the different biological needs of men and women,” “Illnesses and conditions that we know impact men and women differently should be communicated in a clear and accurate way. “NHS staff must be allowed to get on with the job of caring for patients, not tiptoeing around trans guidance. “the Government’s proposed update to the NHS constitution makes clear what patients can expect from NHS services in meeting their needs, including the biological needs of the sexes.” Miriam Cates, MP and women’s rights campaigner “Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust seems to have gone through the looking glass into a world where biological sex doesn’t exist, and where the safety and dignity of vulnerable patients is ignored in the interests of being seen to adhere to a ridiculous ideology. “It is shocking that an organisation dedicated to evidence-based practice can be so blind to the reality of the differences between men and women.” Baroness Nicholson “This NHS trust seems to be deliberately ignoring the Health Secretary whose guidance declares that sex overrules gender in all medical matters,” “The NHS seems determined to follow its own unscientifically proven agenda; does this trust not recognise that male and female health profoundly differs? And that calling a man ‘her’ may so easily result in a nurse handing out the wrong medicines for the patient’s condition?” Cancer incidence for common cancers Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, accounting for 3 in 20 (15%) of all cases in females and males combined The next most common cancers in UK people are prostate (14%), lung (13%), bowel (11%) Though there are more than 200 types of cancer, just these four types - breast, prostate, lung and bowel – together account for more than half (53%) of all new cases in the UK The two most common cancer types occur mainly or exclusively in only one sex. Breast Breast cancer is more common in women than men. Around 55,500 women and around 370 men are diagnosed in the UK each year. 1 in 7 women in the UK develop breast cancer during their lifetime. It is more common in older women. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK. Around 55,900 people are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the UK. That is more than 150 people a day. 15 out of 100 (15%) newly diagnosed cancers in the UK are breast cancer. Prostate The prostate gland is part of the male reproductive system. You need a prostate gland to get prostate cancer. Around 52,300 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK each year. In men, it is the most common cancer in the UK. Ovarian There are 2 ovaries, one on each side of the body. The ovaries produce an egg each month in women of childbearing age. Around 7,500 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the UK each year. This makes ovarian cancer the 6th most common cancer in women. Causes of death The leading cause of death in the UK in 2018 was dementia and Alzheimer disease, accounting for 12.7% of all deaths registered. In 2008, the leading cause of death for females aged 50 to 64 years changed from malignant neoplasm of breast to malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung, which accounted for 10.1% of deaths for this age group in 2018. From 2001 to 2018, suicide and injury or poisoning of undetermined intent was the leading cause of death for both males and females aged 20 to 34 years in the UK, for all years observed, accounting for 27.1% of male deaths and 16.7% of female deaths for this age group.