'Allow non-private patients to choose sex of their gynaecologist'

At present, only women who are private patients can request a woman consultant, while most patients visiting the Medical Specialist Group through the States’ secondary healthcare scheme see whoever is available.

Deputy Yvonne Burford wrote to the Health & Social Care Committee yesterday to ask for the rules to be changed.

‘I was concerned to read in the Guernsey Press that a woman will be permitted to request a female gynaecologist at the MSG only if she has a history of sexual assault,’ she said.

‘One in three women are sexually assaulted in their lifetime. Many of these women will choose not to disclose this to anyone and some will tell only those closest to them.

‘To have a policy which demands that in order to request a female clinician a woman has to disclose this history, presumably either to her GP or administrative staff, is in my view totally unreasonable.’

One patient who contacted the Guernsey Press yesterday said she was forced to delay vital appointments when she had cancer of the womb and required a hysterectomy three years ago.

Janine Le Sauvage feared that putting women in that position could have serious consequences.

‘They said they did not have a female gynaecologist, so I waited for one to be appointed. I am very stubborn like that,’ she said.

‘Women do not want any Tom, Dick or Harry poking around down there.

‘If women can’t see a female gynaecologist, they will put off seeing a doctor, and that could lead to deaths further down the line.’

The MSG has a list of five men and two women in its obstetrics and gynaecology team.

It has said that it would be impossible to accommodate requests to see consultants based on their sex but carries out intimate examinations in the presence of female chaperones.

‘The offer of a chaperone, while welcome, does not remedy the issue,’ said Deputy Burford.

‘If the number of requests for female care exceeds the capacity of those two women clinicians, perhaps the MSG should consider a employing a better ratio of female consultants when recruiting for what, ultimately, is a service for women.’

Mrs Le Sauvage was a deputy in 1996 when the States signed its first contract with the MSG for secondary healthcare.

She believed that allowing only private patients to choose the sex of their gynaecologist offended the original principles of the partnership.

‘When we agreed this with the MSG there was not meant to be discrimination between private and public patients,’ she said.