Men are being asked if they are pregnant before undergoing scans at NHS trusts in England, it has emerged.

Male cancer patients and those having X-Rays and MRI scans are being asked if they could be expecting after the Government removed the word “female” from the law governing the medical procedures and replaced it with “individuals”.

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, in Liverpool, now asks “ALL patients under the age of 60, regardless of how you may identify your gender”.

The Telegraph understands that it is among a handful of trusts to have implemented the policy for men and women undergoing procedures that involve radiotherapy and could harm an unborn baby.

It comes amid anger at the NHS for prioritising gender over sex in order to be inclusive of trans people, including on single-sex wards.

One woman whose husband has cancer says that the question before a scan had caused “unnecessary confusion and agitation” and was “unfair” as a combination of steroids and brain surgery had made him emotional.

She added: “This was very confusing for him in his post-surgical daze, his vulnerability and needs completely ignored.”

‘Clinically dangerous’

Medics are required to find out if a patient could be pregnant before carrying out procedures involving radiotherapy, diagnostic imaging and nuclear medicine because of the risk it poses to any unborn child.

The Department of Health updated the regulations regarding the procedures in 2017 and changed the wording surrounding those who should be questioned from “females of childbearing age” to “individuals of childbearing potential”.

Campaigners warned on Monday that the policy was part of a “clinically dangerous” practice to record gender and not sex on medical records. They pointed out that those born male cannot get pregnant.

NHS guidance states that patients can change their name and the gender on their official documents without going through the legal process or any medical intervention.

Kat Barber, of campaign group Sex Not Gender Nurses and Midwives, said: “This is an example of why we need both sex and gender clearly recorded for patients.

“We do not need to ask all patients if they are pregnant. We need to ask females, hence why it is important to know if the person we are providing care for is female whilst also respecting their gender identity.”

Inclusive pregnancy guidance published by the Society of Radiographers in November last year says that it is “important to check with all patients for any possibility of pregnancy”.

The professional body notes that some “employers’ written procedures require enquiries to be made of all patients irrespective of gender”.

Asking men is not a national policy designed by NHS England, but it is down to individual trusts to decide.

The Society of Radiographers recommends that all patients are asked what sex they were assigned at birth and then questioned on their pregnancy status if they were born female.

They say that the aim is “to move away from the long-standing practice of only enquiring about pregnancy with those that present as female”.

Ectopic pregnancy and still birth

They also note that although no one born a man has yet had a child, with womb transplant “there is discussion of its future viability and healthcare professionals should be aware of this as a potential for pregnancy”.

The professional body warns that, in one case, a transgender man underwent a CT scan without medics checking and was found to be pregnant.

Ms Barber said that there had been a number of examples where trans men have had adverse outcomes – including in the case of a ectopic pregnancy and a still birth – because their sex was not recorded by the NHS.

Sex-based medical checks, such as cervical screening, would only be offered if a person opts in, she added.

A spokesman from The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust said: “Our policy relating to asking patients if they are pregnant before undergoing procedures involving ionising radiation and MRI adheres to national legislation, as certain amounts of radiation can be harmful to foetuses in utero.

“We believe asking all people who are having their abdomen imaged/scanned in this way, regardless of gender, is the least intrusive way of ensuring it is safe to proceed.”

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, who has been campaigning for single-sex provisions in the NHS, said that the questioning was a “shocking invasion of personal privacy” which was “wrong and dangerous” and could put people off using the NHS.

When asked about the change in language, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Patient safety is paramount, especially when there is a risk that foetuses may be exposed to damaging radiation. Therefore, it’s important that all biological females of child-bearing age are screened for potential pregnancy to avoid this risk.”