The NHS appear unable to support the trans community as they are still unable to reduce their wait times in the 5 years it has been a known issue.
In 2016, a blog post published by Will Huxter, the then Reginal Director of Specialised Commissioning at NHS England, spoke about the changes the NHS were making to deal with the problem of gender dysphoria and quickening treatment.
Will had acknowledged the urgency of those with gender dysphoria who felt their life was on hold as he said:
“This is why NHS England has invested more in gender identity services, to increase capacity and reduce waits – and I am personally very committed to continuing our work to tackle this longstanding problem.”
As of this year, the issue still exists with patients being forced to wait up to four years for their first appointment.
Siobhan Jarmson, a transgender woman from the Shetland Isles spoke about how she feels the NHS is struggling to help trans individuals through being both ‘understaffed, undertrained, and underfunded.’
She said: “With being trans, wait times are much longer, and the psychiatrist you wind up with could turn out to be nonsense.”
According to Siobhan thoughts like this continue to affect other transgender people in their pursuit to transition, this has caused many to pursue Hormone Replacement Treatment (HRT) privately to achieve their goals of transitioning.
“I’m currently on HRT via GenderGP, a private practice [to] take the burden off the NHS.
“It does ease the worry to be able to take HRT while waiting, at least I know I'm doing something, every day I'm a little more feminine, a few steps in the right direction.”
GenderGP was set up in 2015 to provide health and wellbeing services to trans and non-binary individuals who were struggling to get help with the NHS, they now receive roughly around 1000 patients a year.
Aby Hawker, Head of Communications at GenderGP, said that they are currently assisting patients like Siobhan as she said:
“We provide a bridging service so that people can access hormones while they wait. We can work with the patient’s GP providing shared care, and we also offer a 100% private service for those who prefer not to involve their doctor.”
This NHS service needs to be improved as Aby believes care for trans and non-binary individuals needs to be brought into the primary care setting, with the GPs having clear guidance and training to support their trans patients.
The trans community has done enough waiting as she said:
“When trans people come out they have already spent years understanding their gender and trying to find the words to explain their experiences. By the time they visit their GP more often than not they want their real journey to begin.”
“However, this is often just the beginning of more waiting lists and hoop jumping to get the care they need. “