Put word WOMAN back into health advice, NHS told

NHS bosses were today urged to start using ‘women’ and ‘woman’ again on health pages online.

Gender-specific terms have been quietly scrubbed on official advice sites under a woke inclusivity drive. 

Pages on ovarian, womb and cervical cancer as well as the menopause, which can only biological women can suffer, were affected by the changes.

Ministers, including ex-Health Secretary Sajid Javid, had pledged to crackdown on the practice — but action has yet to be taken.

The old version of the NHS ovarian cancer page as of December 30 2021 (left) mentions women specifically twice, whereas the new version (right) omits them 

The NHS has quietly omitted the terms ‘women’ and ‘woman’ from its webpage on menopause. Pictured here is the older version of the menopause overview page (May 16) which mentioned women six times 

But a newer version omits women from the overview entirely. Experts have warned women could be disadvantaged by de-gendered medical advice confusing health messaging

Now a 1,400-strong group of campaigners have demanded immediate action, in an open letter started by the Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender (CAN-SG).

Doctors, nurses and healthcare practitioners are among the signatories. 

The letter is addressed to NHS chief executives, ministers and chief nursing officers from across the UK.

CAN-SG said the changes have ‘occurred by stealth over the past couple of years’.

Campaigners claimed that the scrubbing was discriminatory, given that conditions specific to men haven’t been affected as prominently. 

They also claimed patients felt the updated language ‘dehumanising’, making it less clear about who is the ‘intended audience’ of such advice. 

Experts have long warned that de-gendering medical advice could be dangerous for women by over-complicating vital health messaging.

The group said the NHS website is a ‘specific, significant source of health information for everyone’ but there has been a ‘gradual eradication’ of the word ‘woman’. 

It accuses the health service of ‘reducing’ the word ‘woman’ to phrases such as ‘anyone with a cervix’ and failing to explain that ovaries are female reproductive organs.

The changes were made without conducting an equality impact assessment, consulting the public, considering how women would feel or analysing how it could impact women’s health.

The health service also failed to seek legal advice on whether its actions are discriminatory.

Dr Louse Irvine, spokesperson for CAN-SG, said: ‘The incredible response to this letter — over 1,400 signatures in 24 hours — shows how strongly women patients and clinicians feel about this issue.

‘The NHS should heed these views: accurate sex-based language is important to ensure life saving health communication is understood by those for whom it is intended, and to convey respect for women, their bodies and health issues.

‘For example women’s awareness and uptake of cervical screening is on the wane.

‘Many women do not know they have a cervix – or that cervical screening is life saving — so a phrase like ‘anyone with a cervix’ is meaningless to them. 

‘That is why we need simple clear language when talking about women’s health. 

‘Many women find it disrespectful that communication about their health issues erases the word “woman”, and this undermines trust and confidence in that communication.’