Thread by @MyselfBecome

England Adult Trans Healthcare Waiting List Crisis.

It’s been a little over a year since I did my first (FoI) Freedom of Information Request to The Porterbrook Clinic in Sheffield.

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This year I decided to submit one to all of them. I’m still waiting for answers back from some, but all the English ones have now either answered or refused.

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These waiting times are extrapolated from the number of people currently on each individual list awaiting an initial assessment vs the number of initial assessments given in a month. I have tried to be generous to the GICs while calculating these figures.

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Summary of the waiting list crisis for transgender healthcare in the UK.

🔴Tavistock - 17y, 2m, 18d
🔴Leeds - 12y, 1m, 23d
🔴Northampton - 10y, 7m, 11d
🔴Northern - 17y, 3m, 3d
🔴Nottingham - 1y, 10m, 2d
🔴Porterbrook - 22y, 0m, 22d
🔴The Laurels - 17y, 3m, 15d

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The NHS has a legal requirement to see patients within 18 weeks (about 4 and half months) even at the best performing GIC they are failing in this target and at the worst there is still a 2 decade wait.

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As well as the wait and the lack of plan to reduce these lists, I am also angered by the deceptive practices used to hide these wait times, I will outline each clinics implied wait time and its actual wait time.

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The Tavistock Gender Identity Clinic

🔴Waiting: 14,152
🔴Initial Appointments: ~16 week
🔴Listed Wait: 5 years, 2 months
🔴Actual Wait: 17 years, 2 months

(Refused FoI, figures based on their website.)

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Leeds Gender Identity Clinic

🔴Waiting: 4,590
🔴Initial Appointments: ~7.5 week
🔴Listed Wait: 4 years, 9 months
🔴Actual Wait: 12 years, 2 months

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Northampton Gender Identity Clinic

🔴Waiting: 1,384
🔴Initial Appointments: ~2.5 week
🔴Listed Wait: 4 years, 6 months
🔴Actual Wait: 10 years, 7 months

Northern Region Gender Dysphoria Service

🔴Waiting: 2,251
🔴Initial Appointments: ~2.5 week
🔴Listed Wait: 5 years, 5 months
🔴Actual Wait: 17 years, 3 months

(Closed waiting list to new patients due to inability to handle them)

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The Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health

🔴Waiting: 2,613
🔴Initial Appointments: ~27 week
🔴Listed Wait: 1 year, 10 months
🔴Actual Wait: 1 year, 10 months

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Porterbrook Clinic Gender Identity Service

🔴Waiting: 2302
🔴Initial Appointments: ~2 week
🔴Listed Wait: 4 years, 5 months
🔴Actual Wait: 22 years, 1 month

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The Laurels Gender Identity Clinic

🔴Waiting: 4,510
🔴Initial Appointments: ~5 week
🔴Listed Wait: 7 years, 5 months
🔴Actual Wait: 17 years, 3 months

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Every single one where I received the data, the waiting list was growing faster than the number of appointments, with the current lack of any sort of plan to deal with the backlog, these waiting times are only going to get worse.

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I fear to offer advice to anyone trying to access care in the UK publicly, but I would say there are alternative ways to access some of the services you need from the UK, and you should consider exploring them, or you may spend a lifetime waiting for help. 😞

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