Patients could be treated by medics of the opposite sex without their knowledge or consent, new data reveals.
Figures show at least 77 doctors have registered a change of gender with the General Medical Council (GMC) since 2003.
Just two have informed the GMC that they have obtained a UK Gender Recognition Certificate, the document that provides legal recognition of the change.
And it raises concerns that doctors are being allowed to self-identify at will to change gender on the register without further checks.
The information, supplied by the GMC to Labour’s gender-critical Baroness Hayter, revealed a total of 14 doctors changed gender on the GMC register in 2022 and nine last year.
The information revealed a total of 14 doctors changed gender on the GMC register in 2022 and nine last year. Picture shows a patient going for an STD test in a clinic (Stock image)
Writing to Baroness Hayter (pictured), Professor Dame Carrie MacEwen, the General Medical Council’s chair, said that ‘the data on the published register may not reflect, in all cases, a doctor’s sex at birth’
When Baroness Hayter pressed the importance of patients knowing their doctor’s sex, the GMC responded that the ‘the primary purpose’ of the register was to show that doctors have ‘the appropriate training, skills and experience’ (Stock image)
Writing to Baroness Hayter, Professor Dame Carrie MacEwen, the GMC’s chair, said that ‘the data on the published register may not reflect, in all cases, a doctor’s sex at birth’, The Sunday Telegraph reported.
This means that patients cannot find out if their doctor was born male or female from the register.
When Baroness Hayter pressed the importance of patients knowing their doctor’s sex, the GMC responded that the ‘the primary purpose’ of the register was to show that doctors have ‘the appropriate training, skills and experience’.
She was also told that patients are more likely to seek information regarding their doctor’s gender from local healthcare providers, rather than from the GMC register.
The GMC also provided reassurance that patients could use a chaperone, but the policy means patients will not know in advance whether to ask for one, because their doctor’s biological sex is not shown.
The organisation said they stopped asking for a Gender Recognition Certificate form doctors in 2010 ‘because many found it difficult to secure one’.
Maya Forstater (pictured), executive director of Sex Matters, which campaigns for clarity on sex in law and everyday life, said: ‘The General Medical Council’s handling of this issue is chilling and demonstrates that it prioritises trans identities over the safety and wellbeing of female patients’
Maya Forstater, executive director of Sex Matters, which campaigns for clarity on sex in law and everyday life, said: ‘The General Medical Council’s handling of this issue is chilling and demonstrates that it prioritises trans identities over the safety and wellbeing of female patients.
‘If a woman has been told that she will be examined by a female doctor, then it is a violation of her consent for her to find herself with a man posing as a woman.
‘In a similar way to the issue with male police officers searching women, this policy disregards women’s human rights and put women at risk of state-sanctioned sexual assault.’
A GMC spokesman said: ‘We recognise that some people will, for various reasons, want to see a doctor of the same sex, and the relevant healthcare provider – whether a GP practice, sexual health clinic, or other service – is best placed to handle such requests to ensure those patients’ needs are met.
‘They will also be able to take other steps where appropriate, for example, by providing a chaperone.
‘We have been processing gender-change applications since the early 2000s. Our current approach to enable registrants to change their gender on the medical register is compliant with the existing legislative framework.
‘We have responded directly to the Baroness’s most recent letter on the points she has raised.’
