Admin Gender in PDS

Personal Demographics Service (PDS) Personal Demographics Service FHIR API
, ,
1

Good morning,
Quick question on Admin Gender and changes to it.
The FHIR API docs indicate we CAN update admin gender, there’s no specific restrictions on this functionality listed and I don’t think there’s anything listed in the SCAL to the effect that we shouldn’t update it.
However the guidance for gender reassignment seems to suggest that only GPs should be triggering this (and even then they don’t look to be altering an existing record, instead creating a new one).

Can I clarify if there are any restrictions/guidance on how this update is used?

Also is there any specific clear guidance on Admin Gender vs Birth Gender vs Gender identity (realise this may be a changing area at present)?
I.e. best practices on what should be stored and what can/should be inferred from admin gender (i.e. if an unattended PDS lookup as part of an ERS flow registers a previously unknown patient should we infer birth gender, gender identity etc from this or be prompting user clarification at a later point?).
For context this is largely driven by trusts saying that downstream system want gender at birth/biological gender. Clear guidance on exact meaning of admin gender and what we can do around it would be useful to inform discussions.

Thanks,

Liam

2

For those who have permission rights to update - there are no technical restrictions on updating admin gender with the PDS FHIR API.

However, the healthcare workers using the system must adhere to the relevant NHS policies and procedures for their organisation.

For someone that is changing their gender, this is best supported by their GP who can work with the patient to co-ordinate the necessary changes with the other healthcare organisations who is involved in that person’s care. In some circumstances, it may be necessary for other organisations to update the gender for example: when correction to an administrative error is needed.

It is important to note that the field provided on the PDS FHIR API is “administrative gender” and should not conflated with “s e x at birth”.

1 Like