NHS England: Ovarian Cancer Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Lord Cashman
Main Page: Lord Cashman (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Cashman's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(2 weeks, 3 days ago)
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Lord Markham (Con)
Yes. Once again, I come at this from the perspective that health is the primary factor here. Clearly, a person’s biological sex is a key part of the information on their record that any clinician needs to know, so that absolutely needs to be primary.
Lord Cashman (Lab)
My Lords, I will make a simple point with which I hope the Minister agrees. Is it not to be welcomed that we come up with language that is inclusive and reaches as many people as possible, as the noble Baroness, Lady Burt, suggested, and as is indicated in the framing of the information we are discussing?
Lord Markham (Con)
Yes. To reiterate, I think that we should always use “man” or “woman” as the primary descriptor. For people with English as a second language, “woman” is very understandable. We can then be inclusive by saying a “person with ovaries”, so that we are absolutely clear. My remit here is health, so I want to make sure that most people, especially if English is their second language, understand who we are referring to when we say “woman”.