How To Get Access To Medical Treatment
We’ve covered the fact that being transgender is not a mental illness, but it does cause gender dysphoria around the idea that the body doesn’t match the brain, or your identity.
So, what can you do about that? Do you need to do anything?
No, you don’t have to do anything. There are non-medical options covered in our Social Transition section.
But if you’re feeling like using a different name and pronouns or changing the clothes you wear aren’t making you feel better about yourself or your body, then there are other options available.
GP Referral To a GIC
Remember when I said that having a good GP is important? Yeah, this is why.
A referral to a Gender Identity Clinic should be an easy, simple process.
You could also go private, but we’ll get into that in a second.
A GIC enables you to do several things:
Start hormones
Get surgeries
Get a medical report for a Gender Recognition Certificate
Access other resources that might otherwise be difficult to find
A GIC is made up of specialists in the field of gender dysphoria who can help you figure out what kind of treatment is best for you.
They’re not necessarily providing therapy, but they do talk to you about where you are in your transition and what you need them to do for you.
Now, back to your GP.
They’re where you go to get a referral to a GIC.
It should be an easy process, where you go to your GP, say you’re struggling with gender dysphoria or your gender identity, and that you need to be referred to a GIC.
Your GP should then fill in a form for you depending on where you’re being referred, which will then be used to refer you to a GIC.
If you have a good and/or knowledgeable GP, then they’ll do just that.
I know that that sounds scary. Doctors’ appointments are not fun at the best of times. When you’re thinking of telling your doctor about issues with your gender identity, and you know that they might not be knowledgeable on the subject, or that they might even be rude or dismissive, that can be quite anxiety-inducing.
But you are not a burden. Nothing should be allowed to get in the way of you exploring your identity and accessing medical resources that you need so that you can make life better and more comfortable for yourself.
If your GP is making things hard for you, putting unnecessary steps in the way of your referral like having to go to therapy first, then they’re wrong, because there are guidelines that they’re supposed to follow.
You can and should make a complaint to the CCG if you feel you’re being treated poorly.
Like I said, you don’t need to see a mental health specialist first, and approval from the CCG for your GP to refer you isn’t needed either.
You can also self-refer, but this involves a few more steps, and if your GP won’t even refer you to a Gender Clinic, it might be even harder to get them to help you with prescriptions when you finally get access to hormones, if you did decide to go the private route.
Going Private vs Using The NHS
Getting a referral to a GIC through your GP is an NHS process. But there’s also the option of going private.
There are pros and cons associated with both processes:
Going Private:
Pros:
Faster than the NHS
No GP referral
Clinics will sometimes take online appointments
Cons:
Costly – it might take months or more to save up for the cost of treatment, diagnosis, and prescription costs
Can be confusing to navigate as a patient
Options:
Gendercare (London)
London Transgender Clinic
YourGP (Edinburgh)
Northern Gender Network (Leeds)
Going through the NHS:
Pros:
Free – most forms of treatment are free, including hormones and surgeries – prescriptions will cost the normal amount on the NHS
Clinics will sometimes take online appointments
Your GP will refer you to the closest clinic to where you currently live
Cons:
Waiting lists can be years long to get into a GIC
Most places require you to travel for at least the first few appointments – they need to see you in-person for things like discussing starting hormones and getting a surgery referral
Options: (England) (Scotland) (Northern Ireland) (Wales)
The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, Gender Identity Clinic, formerly Charing Cross (London)
Leeds Gender Identity Clinic, (Leeds)
Northampton Gender Identity Clinic, (Daventry)
Northern Region Gender Dysphoria Service, (Newcastle)
The Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health
Porterbrook Clinic Gender Identity Service, (Sheffield)
The Laurels Gender Identity Clinic, (Exeter)
The Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation (London)
However, most people normally do a combination of both private and NHS referrals.
They’ll go to their GP to get a referral, and also pay for private care whilst they wait to see a GIC. This means that when they get to a GIC, they can potentially get surgeries for free instead of having to pay privately, and they’ll already be incredibly far into their transitions.
The NHS waiting list is known to be… bad. It shouldn’t take years to be seen for any kind of care, and many people argue that self-ID should replace GICs and GRCs, too.
But for now, it’s one of the few cost-free options we have, even if it does cost a lot of people their mental health.
Dealing With Waiting
Again – the waiting lists to get into a GIC can be really hard on your mental health. For younger and older people alike.
I’ll be honest, ways of dealing with waiting are mainly social:
Don’t shut yourself away from other people
Reach out to family and friends if you need to talk
See a mental health specialist if you don’t want to talk to people who know you
Look after other aspects of yourself, through sleeping properly, managing exercise, and relaxing with hobbies
I know, a lot of this stuff just sounds like ‘distract yourself by living your life while you wait for your life to actually start.’
It’s harsh waiting years to talk to someone about something you already know about yourself. And maybe you won’t want to do anything, or you won’t be able to do anything except think about your transition.
And it’s much easier said than done to just ‘be social’ or ‘get into your hobbies.’
But doing these things can really help you start to feel like you can have a life, and you can live as yourself, albeit while waiting for the treatment that can make your body match who you are on the inside.
But you’re still you, and you should take this time to surround yourself with people who love and accept that. The medical part of your transition is just another step towards showing yourself, and others, who you really are. But it is just one step.
