4 December 2000

Mr Alan Millburn
Minister of Health
Department of Health
Richmond House
79 Whitehall
LONDON
SW1A 2NS

Dear Mr Millburn

Hysterectomies

Thank you for you letter of 14 August 2000, via John Rutherford. Many people were concerned that a man would be on the team for women. As he has never had his vial child-bearing organs removed how can he be in a position to protect or understand the problems we face?

I am very annoyed at an announcement that you recently made. You have called an inquiry into the death of five babies. Why are those five babies more important than the thousands of children that people like me have been prevented from having? Thousands of peiople over the years have been effectively castrated without consent and often with out reason and you sit by and do nothing. Are we expendable? Would you sit by and allow it if you were castrated in these circumstances or your wife or a female that you care about and they had not completed their family? We will leave aside the detrimental effects for a moment.

Your government often complains that the NHS does not have enough money. I’d like to make a simple suggestion. Home births and virginal births are cheaper than caesareans. So make the doctors stop performing unnecessary caesareans. This would then stop complications following caesareans. Save money. This would stop unnecessary and unwanted hysterectomies. Save money. Most hysterectomized persons have to have follow up surgery as it is detrimental to our heath so costs there would also be cut. As you refuse to put an end to unnecessary operations and trauma to women stop complain about lack of finances.

In the letter you sent, postpartum haemorrhage was used as a cause for 18 hysterectomies. Why were these not investigated? I understand that there is a 100% effective procedure to stop pph without resorting to hysterectomy. It was not of course used in my case. However pph was only one of the excuses we have been given for my castration.

In some hospitals, their hysterectomy rate is about 2 – 3 a decade. The hospital we were in, it is 2 – 3 a YEAR. Why are you turning a blind eye to it? Why are we being violated?

In the pregnancy book there is no mention of hysterectomies and there is no support groups for us. Could you send me details of how to have our support group put into the book for other people in our position?

The NHS employed doctors that we were expected to and did trust. This trust was violated. How can you employ doctors that cannot control a little bleeding, or understand non-consent, not even the consultant? Could you please send details of how the NHS now assists us with having the rest of my family?

Thank you for your time taken in this matter.

Yours sincerely

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