{"id":61960,"date":"2025-04-30T04:05:13","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T04:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/61960\/"},"modified":"2025-04-30T04:05:13","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T04:05:13","slug":"kemi-badenoch-says-men-should-not-conduct-intimate-nhs-mammograms-despite-calls-for-rules-to-be-loosened-amid-shortage-of-radiographers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/61960\/","title":{"rendered":"Kemi Badenoch says men should NOT conduct ‘intimate’ NHS mammograms despite calls for rules to be loosened amid shortage of radiographers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Men should not conduct mammograms despite calls for rules to be loosened amid a shortage of staff, Kemi Badenoch<\/a> insisted today.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Tory<\/a> leader said the checks for breast cancer<\/a> were ‘intimate’ and women should not have to ‘compromise on their privacy and dignity’.<\/p>\n

Ms Badenoch stressed that she would also not want a trans woman<\/a> carrying out the procedure because they are ‘still a biological male’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The intervention came as experts from the Society of Radiographers (SoR) said that male health workers should be allowed to perform mammograms due to a lack of women in the roles.<\/p>\n

Mammography is the only health examination exclusively carried out by female staff.<\/p>\n

Every three years, women aged 50 to 71 are invited for breast screening, also known as a mammogram.<\/p>\n

These scans look for cancers that are too small to see or feel.<\/p>\n

\"Experts <\/p>\n

Experts from the Society of Radiographers (SoR) have suggested that male health workers should be allowed to perform mammograms to help tackle staff shortages<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Government has faced calls for men to be allowed to conduct mammograms amid workforce shortages\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Kemi <\/p>\n

Kemi Badenoch said the checks for breast cancer were ‘intimate’ and women should not have to ‘compromise on their privacy and dignity’<\/p>\n

The SoR has called for a change in policy amid ‘critical’ staff shortages among mammographers \u2013 radiographers who specialise in breast imaging.<\/p>\n

SoR officials also said male health workers could excel in the field but are being denied the chance because of their gender.<\/p>\n

Asked about the issue, Mrs Badenoch told Times Radio: ‘I’ve had a mammogram, it is a very, very intrusive process.<\/p>\n

‘It involves the clinician holding both of your breasts for a long period of time, feeling them, manipulating them, putting them in the machine.<\/p>\n

‘I would not want a man doing that \u2013 (I) definitely would want a woman.’<\/p>\n

She added: ‘I think the solution is to get more radiographers, not to ask women, yet again, to sacrifice their privacy and dignity to deal with a supply issue.<\/p>\n

‘I don’t think that’s right.’<\/p>\n

Mrs Badenoch also told BBC Breakfast: ‘I’ve had a mammogram, a very, very intimate examination, people are touching you in very intimate ways.<\/p>\n

‘So I think pretty much most, if not all, women would want another woman doing that.’<\/p>\n

She added: ‘If there’s a shortage of radiographers, let’s get more radiographers.<\/p>\n

‘I don’t see why when we have these issues, women are always forced to compromise on their privacy and dignity.<\/p>\n

‘I don’t think that that’s right.<\/p>\n

‘From my personal experience, I think it is right that women carry out mammograms.’<\/p>\n

Pressed on Times Radio on whether she would be happy with a trans woman doing the checks, Mrs Badenoch replied: ‘Trans women are still a biological male and I want a woman conducting it.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the SoR annual delegates’ conference in London, a motion will be presented which states: ‘The role of a mammographer is to have technical expertise operating imaging equipment, proficiency in understanding anatomy, while maintaining patient comfort and analysing the images produced \u2013 skills learnt through education and experience.<\/p>\n

‘These are not inherently gendered attributes, specific or biased to one gender.’<\/p>\n

It adds that men ‘might excel in this’ and ‘offer a different perspective or approach to patient care’.<\/p>\n

The SoR said the vacancy rate among screening mammographers is 17.5%.<\/p>\n

The vacancy rate among symptomatic mammographers \u2013 who assess women who have found a lump in their breast or have a family history of breast cancer \u2013 is almost 20%.<\/p>\n

‘Allowing men to work in mammography would help to reduce shortages \u2013 and therefore to reduce waiting lists,’ said Charlotte Beardmore, executive director of professional policy at the SoR.<\/p>\n

‘That, in turn, would ensure that every patient is given the treatment they need, when they need it.’<\/p>\n

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: ‘This Government inherited a broken NHS where too many cancer patients are waiting too long for diagnosis and treatment, including for breast cancer.<\/p>\n

‘Through our Plan for Change, we are driving down waiting times, getting patients seen and treated faster.<\/p>\n

\"Breast <\/p>\n

Breast cancer is the UK’s most common cancer with almost 56,000 cases diagnosed per year\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘We will also tackle workforce shortages head on, and ensure the NHS has the staff it needs to be there for all of us when we need it.’<\/p>\n

Delegates at the SoR conference were also told transgender men should be included in the NHS breast screening programme.<\/p>\n

Patients who are registered with their GP as male are not invited for routine screening, though their GP can refer them for screening if cancer is suspected.<\/p>\n

The Department of Health spokeswoman said: ‘Following the Supreme Court ruling, it is clear healthcare should be based on biology.<\/p>\n

‘The Government will deliver a space where we can have respectful, honest conversations about where there might be challenges that arrive and resolve using common sense.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Men should not conduct mammograms despite calls for rules to be loosened amid a shortage of staff, Kemi…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4316],"tags":[15339,92,105,4348,1198,12,211,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-61960","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-bbc-breakfast","9":"tag-dailymail","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-healthcare","12":"tag-kemi-badenoch","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-nhs","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114424940063708306","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}