A woman whose surgery was cancelled because she demanded same-sex care has claimed she could have been killed by the delay.
Teresa Steele was informed over email that her operation at the Princess Grace, a private hospital in central London, which specialises in women’s health, had been scrapped as a result of her request that only biological women be involved in her intimate care and later developed an abscess.
The former solicitor made the request after a transgender nurse entered her pre-op examination room uninvited. The hospital originally accused her of discriminating against the nurse but has since apologised for breaching Ms Steele’s privacy and dignity.
Ms Steele is calling on the HCA, one of the UK’s largest private healthcare companies, that owns The Princess Grace and also provides services to the NHS, to change their policies to ensure that vulnerable patients are given protections based on their sex-based rights.
This includes a guarantee that patients can request care from medics of the same biological sex as them.
Ms Steele, whose surgery was only rescheduled after a public outcry including a petition with thousands of signatures, told the company: “It is not a personal issue for me. Since my experience with HCA, I have been contacted by many women patients who are now too afraid to speak out.
Ms Steele said: “That second surgery has taken me months to recover from. I now have unnecessary deep scarring and my mobility was impacted for months; as a result, I developed a back problem as a knock-on effect of a protracted convalescence. The second surgery has really affected my long-term health.”
However, she has put any legal action on pause and offered to waive it completely if the HCA agrees to change its policy to recognise that sex is a protected characteristic under equality laws and to guarantee same-sex care.
Source: Hospital cancelled my surgery after I complained about transgender nurse
No woman should be discriminated against for wanting biological women only caring for them.