It is disappointing to see The Telegraph continue their attack on our Inclusive Pregnancy Status Guideline (IPS), created with the Society of Radiographers (SoR) in their recent article “NHS staff told to ask men if they are pregnant before X-rays”, published August 11th, 2024.

The article suffers from poor journalism and is littered with inaccuracies and misrepresentations in its characterisation of both the IPS guidance and OUTpatients, which I will briefly address below.

This article claims to “reveal” the IPS to the public, yet the guidance was released in 2021 and went through a previous media hysteria in 2022 that involved the then Health Secretary and multiple media outlets, often during prime time news slots. We made statements in response to that period of media hostility and are surprised at the need to do this again after this “revelation” of old news.

The article states that “Radiographers at multiple hospitals have been told they must check whether all patients aged 12 to 55 are pregnant, regardless of their sex, as part of inclusivity guidance.” The IPS guidance provides employers with tools in which to meet the expectations of radiation law known as IR(ME)R. It is the radiation law that is worded to include all people with childbearing potential, however it does not give instruction on how to achieve this. This is why the IPS was created, to help staff comply with the law. The guidance procedures described in the IPS are not mandatory and local employers are welcome to apply the guidance in the way that feels most appropriate for their local practice, so long as they are compliant with IR(ME)R.

The article suggests that women were “in tears because of “invasive” fertility questions.” Fertility questions are standard procedure for medical radiation exposures and have not changed as a result of the IPS. The article also refers to the IPS as ““indoctrinating” children by asking under-18s their preferred names and pronouns, with parents “furious” about it.” This statement is clearly motivated by transphobia.

Further to this point, the journalist has published quotes from various transphobic sources without securing quotes from NHS England or the SoR. Nor have they contacted any of the charities they have named in the article, us included. As a result, the article has no balance and fails in its duty to abide by the core principles of journalism: truthfulness, accuracy and fact-based communications, independence, objectivity, impartiality, fairness, respect for others, and public accountability.

The article also states that OUTpatients is a “Trans group” and does not represent women. This is clearly false. We are immensely proud of our work supporting the trans community, but it is also important to state that we are an LGBTIQ+ charity and we represent people all across the queer spectrum.

OUTpatients stands firmly with the SoR in our ongoing support of the IPS guidance. Click here to read the SoR’s response to The Telegraph.