NHS Wait Times Impact Trans People’s Mental Health, Survey Finds

Wait times for healthcare in the UK are damaging trans people’s mental health, a groundbreaking survey has found.

Advocacy group TransActual asked more than 1,000 trans people about their experiences of transition healthcare.

Only 4.5% of those surveyed said that their mental health had not been negatively impacted by waiting for hormone replacement therapy, and 83.8% said it had been negatively impacted by waiting for surgery.

According to Gay Times, this included frequent anecdotes about self harm and suicidal ideation related to dysphoria, misgendering and hate crimes, all of which are worsened by a lack of timely access to transition care.

The survey also revealed that the majority of respondents (85.2%) referred to NHS gender services after 2017 had yet to be seen by the service. This led to the majority of survey respondents accessing transition medical care through private service providers, with 54% using them for hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

The maximum wait for non-urgent, consultant-led treatment in England should be 18 weeks, according to NHS guidelines, and patients have a “legal right” to be seen within this time period.

“The picture drawn is one of pain, distress and heartbreak, as trans people increasingly find their access to life-saving treatment blocked for a host of bad reasons,” said Chay Brown, Director of Operations for TransActual.

“These include lack of resource, transphobic practitioners, and an officious and bureaucratic system of gate-keeping that seems designed around disbelieving trans people, far more than enabling very necessary treatment.”

You can read the full report here.

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