Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #NHSFailingTransKids
Most recents (11)
I've asked doctors, in which circumstances would it be medically necessary for our child or parent to disclose her sex assigned at birth when seeking medical help. The specific circumstances are vanishingly small. Enforced disclosure leads to distress & risks harm & prejudice
The one time we disclosed, when unsure, lead to invasive, unnecessary questioning regarding genitalia by NHS staff, entirely unrelated to the purpose of visit. Our daughter's NHS marker states female & we've made decision as a family in future to not disclose unless essential.
Unfortunately this is not a unique experience but so commonplace it has a name Trans Broken Arm Syndrome. Where a trans person seeking medical care for a broken arm will be questioned, on their gender identity & sex characteristics. This prevents trans people accessing vital care
Hormones are bad says JK Rowling. Using them is lazy. Heal your mind
In 2003 15% of cis women in UK age 45-68 took HRT
After studies linked HRT to increase breast cancer risk this fell to 5% by 2013
In 2015 @NICEComms found oestrogen only didn't have increased breast cancer risk
In 2003 15% of cis women in UK age 45-68 took HRT
After studies linked HRT to increase breast cancer risk this fell to 5% by 2013
In 2015 @NICEComms found oestrogen only didn't have increased breast cancer risk
According to NICE around 1.5 million people could benefit from HRT to combat effects of menopause, yet 5 years on there remains poor uptake because of the health scare blown up by the media. Many GPs remain reluctant to prescribe HRT.
Evidence based access to HRT, & the patriarchal NHS restricting access, is a feminist AND a Trans Rights issue. Its the SAME MEDICATION used in Trans Health (Estrogen & Testosterone). Scaremongering access to HRT is anti science, anti medicine & anti feminist
#MakeMenapauseMatter
#MakeMenapauseMatter
Should I Be Worried About anti Conversion Therapy Laws?
Do you practice Conversion Therapy?
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No Yes
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Ur OK Yikes!
Do you practice Conversion Therapy?
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No Yes
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Ur OK Yikes!
"Conversion therapy is the aim (or claim to aim) at changing people from gay, lesbian or bisexual to heterosexual, & from trans or gender diverse, to cisgender”. It is harmful & it doesn't work. It violates the right to health & the freedom from non-consensual medical treatment.
According to the recent report from the United Nations, conversion therapy is “inherently discriminatory" and... may "constitute torture" or abuse.
It specifically states that lack of access to healthcare for trans young people is harmful in and of itself.
#NHSFailingTransKids
It specifically states that lack of access to healthcare for trans young people is harmful in and of itself.
#NHSFailingTransKids
I estimate only ~10% of children & young people who we might expect to see accessing transgender health care & support are doing so. This is due to the significant systemic barriers in accessing services. societal stigma, lack of GP support, Geographically distant locations, ££.
Today it is practically near impossible to access medical treatment for a 13 year old or older, simply due to the 4 year wait for medication & then aging out into adult services with further lengthy wait lists. This undoubtedly has an impact on the known demand for services.
Private care is filling this gap to some extent, though this introduces a cost barrier, difficult for those adolescents who are supported by family & impossible for those who are not. This relies upon supportive GPs willing to share care with a GMC suspended private provider.
Psychological assessment to determine if a trans adolescent meets a stereotype ridden diagnosis of gender dysphoria is both unnecessary & stigmatising. Telling a young person they require (years of) mandatory assessments simply because they are trans can be othering & harmful 1/
Making this assessment (by psychologists & psycholanalysts not medical doctors) a barrier to accessing medical support is harmful & stigmatising in and of itself. Making even access to that assessment practically impossible (no self referral, 2 year waiting list) is abusive. 2/
I entirely support providing patient centred trans inclusive therapy to all children & young people (& their families) who desire it. I would have loved some counselling when we went through a really hard time when my child came out. This shouldn't however be a barrier to care 3/
We're often told we 'made our child trans' because it's 'trendy'. 1) I can't make my kids eat broccoli let alone perform gender 2) I think we'd have picked something that doesn't risk our kid having their head kicked in. 1/
I've met & spoken to hundreds of families with trans kids, both in the UK & around the world. I have yet to meet a single parent who had any awareness of trans kids before their child came out. I know it is hard for people to understand because it was hard for us too. 2/
We were woefully unaware of trans folk, safe in a privilaged happy cocoon. The growing realisation that our child was trans disrupted our ignorance. I'm not going to lie, it was frightening. We took a long time to figure out what was going on with our kid & learn to accept her 3/
I just pulled out my notes from a GIDS event I attended in 2016. In one highly controlled moderated session, there was a Q&A with a panel of trans youth. Asked about what they could do better one of them said: "until I left GIDS I'd never met a trans adult". I was shocked. 1/
This young woman had been through years of sessions at GIDS, without meeting a single trans adult. No opportunities to ask questions, no support or community. Complete segregation. This is the experience of many trans youth & could so easily have been that of our family. 2/
Until we attended a @Mermaids_Gender residential, our child thought they were the only person in the world to feel the way they did. They felt utterly alone. We were determined they would grow up with positive representation, with role models of trans adults living full lives. 3/
- Kids don't have surgery
- By definition puberty blockers are only given once puberty started
- Puberty blockers are safe & reversible
- 53 adolescents were prescribed puberty blockers by Tavi GIDS last year
- The waiting list for Tavi GIDS is 21 months
#NHSfailingtranskids
- By definition puberty blockers are only given once puberty started
- Puberty blockers are safe & reversible
- 53 adolescents were prescribed puberty blockers by Tavi GIDS last year
- The waiting list for Tavi GIDS is 21 months
#NHSfailingtranskids
There is some nuance here, I know, its dangerous as people seem to prefer shouting from polarised positions, but I'm going to risk it. 1st blockers: Those with most experience in prescribing think that they shouldn't routinely be used for more than a year or so, at which time /
Parents are scared to complain to the failing children's gender service with 21 month wait list & at least 3 deaths of children waiting. Instead of investigating the problems with the service the Times attacks the 1 charity listening & supporting families. #NHSfailingTransKids.
You can rate your GP - nhs.uk/Services/GP/Re… apparently even sharing peer feedback of good and bad practice on a secret parents support forum is enough to warrant a Times investigation. GIDS clinicians are working with the Times & leaking NHS reports gaslighting service users.
GIDS/ Tavistock lack transparency & accountability. They are a monopoly provider of care to trans youth, are unaccountable to the @gmcuk, fail to address complaints & have been whitewashed by the @CareQualityComm. Some of their active staff are endorsing transphobic lobby groups.
CW suicide:
Jayden Lowe died on 22/11/2018 after 11 months on the waitlist for the monopoly transgender children's gender service. 7 months on he would still be waiting. The wait is now 21 months & still rising. Some of our kids will never get there. #NHSfailingtranskids
Jayden Lowe died on 22/11/2018 after 11 months on the waitlist for the monopoly transgender children's gender service. 7 months on he would still be waiting. The wait is now 21 months & still rising. Some of our kids will never get there. #NHSfailingtranskids
Imagine if in September 2018, Jayden had reached the @NHSEngland service, they still would not have given any immediate medical treatment. They would not have offered bridging hormones, instead they would have reported him & his parents to social services for self medicating. 2/
@NHSEngland If not ejected from service, Jayden would have suffered more waiting during an assessment of minimum 3-6 to establish eligibility access hormone blockers. If already through puberty, blockers would create a medically induced menapause, extremely distressing as a 17 year old 3/
UK Newspapers are repeating the lie that trans kids are being 'fast tracked' for medical care. The reality is anything but. Let me break it down for you, from someone who has a child is in the NHS monopoly service. [MEGATHREAD]: 1/
Imagine the following common scenario, you are a parent/carer, & your child comes out to you, tells you they are trans. Most of the time, they will have been thinking about this for some time, often years, you may even be the last to know. It can be difficult for parents 2/
I know, I've been there, (huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/the-mome…), imagine then, how hard it is for the child. Unfortunately many parents are unable to accept. They ignore - pretending it never happened, deny- shutting down the child, or react with intimidation or violence 3/
