Trans teens are reporting being turned away by the NHS if they sought out private doctors
Parents of transgender children in the UK are reporting that the NHS is turning them away if they have sought out private doctors.
A number of people are reporting long waiting lists and delays in the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the gender service for under 18s.
The waiting time is being put down to assessments which take up a large period of time, causing a backlog.
The trust said that the wellbeing of patients is their concern, but if hormone treatments are prescribed outside of the service then they cannot continue to provide ongoing supervision.
Referrals to the trust have reached a record high, with 1,500 cases being taken on in this financial year.
1,200 families are currently on the waiting list, and they face a six month wait before getting the first appointment.
Last year, an NHS trust terminated a Gender Identity Service contract.
The Gender Identity Clinic at Charing Cross announced it would terminate its contract just months after the UK’s health watchdog recommended an urgent expansion of the service, warning that patients were being let down by limited capacity.
Author of the study, Sam Winter, stressed the importance of improving trans peoples rights to healthcare.He said: “Many of the health challenges faced by transgender people are exacerbated by laws and policies that deny them gender recognition.”
“In no other community is the link between rights and health so clearly visible as in the transgender community.
