A male nurse has accused two NHS trusts of sex discrimination for refusing to allow him to carry out routine procedures on female patients.
Andrew Moyhing said he had to give up nursing because he was not allowed to do his job properly in a female-dominated profession.
He argued that his training was not complete because he was only allowed to conduct many procedures on male patients while female colleagues were taught how to treat both sexes.
Moyhing, who now works in financial services, is backed by the Equal Opportunities Commission, which has compared the case to the battle to allow men to become midwives.
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Jenny Watson, acting chair of the EOC, told the Sunday Times: “Andrew’s case raises important issues about the way in which men and women can be pushed into different areas of work.”
The employment tribunal case is being taken against Homerton University Hospitals NHS Trust, in east London, and Barts and the London NHS Trust. The trusts declined to comment until the tribunal has reached its judgment.