Scotland hands unprecedented power to trans patientsposted on 17/07/2012 at 9:31 am
by Ruth Pearce
http://transactivist.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/scotland-hands-unprecedented-power-to-trans-patients/The big news from Scotland today is all about gay marriage. But last week, the Scottish government quietly unveiled an equally important move.
The new NHS Scotland Gender Reassignment Protocol will have a massive impact upon those who seek a medical transition. It dramatically cuts the time required for "real life experience" prior to surgery, confirms the necessity of contested interventions such as hair removal for trans women and chest surgery for trans men, enables teenagers to begin transition from 16, and – crucially – reinforces the right of trans people to refer themselves to Gender Clinics.
....that children and young people under age 16 are entitled to child and adolescent specialist assessment and treatment as per the relevant section of the WPATH Standards of Care.
....The progressive nature of the new Scottish protocol provides a positive precedent for the rest of the UK. We can only hope that NHS protocols for England and Wales and for Northern Ireland follow suit.
NHS Scotland Gender Reassignment Protocol PublishedScottish Transgender Alliance
Thursday 12 July 2012
http://www.scottishtrans.org/Article.aspx?id=95The new NHS Scotland Gender Reassignment Protocol has just been published by the Scottish Government. Read the new protocol online:
http://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/mels/CEL2012_26.pdfThe development of the new protocol would not have been possible without the dedication, hard work and trans-awareness of several key professionals across the Equality and Human Rights Commission Scotland, the Scottish Government, NHS Health Scotland, NHS National Services Scotland, and the NHS Gender Identity Clinics in Scotland.
The protocol is not perfect but it is an important step forward for trans people in Scotland. It will take ongoing pressure from trans individuals and groups at both local and national levels to ensure the new protocol is properly implemented across the whole of Scotland.
