Knowing your rights on the NHS can ease your transition

[Jayne]

I'll start by pointing out that every GP i've seen over the last 2 years has been very understanding about my transition.
I have however had several problems with administration, had I known what I know now then I could have cut out most of the hassle.

My initial funding request was held up because my surgery & psychiatrist couldn't agree on who should request funding.

It took a couple of months to get my blood test done as my next surgery thought they couldn't do the test.

My current surgery has taken 2 months to tell me they can't accept my deed poll name change & I suspect this is why my letter from the GIC has gone astray as it was sent in my new name but my GP records are stuck in my old name.

Today I was wearing all female clothes, earings & nail varnish but no make-up so I was already getting looks & the GP came out & loudly called for me by my old male name (I cringed at the sound of it), thanks to reading these leaflets I knew that I can insist that they address me by my real name regardless of the official records.
 
I'm putting a link to GIRES (Gender Identity Research and Education Society), they have a range of PDF leaflets covering trans issues & procedures within the NHS.

http://www.gires.org.uk/dohpublications.php

I'm getting 2 printed off today to drop into my surgery as they've said that i'm the "first case like this they've had" & they are obviously untrained in this area.
I hope this information can help smooth the path for others

Best wishes to you all

Jayne

[FTMDiaries]

(Apologies in advance to readers from countries where you pretty much have to sell your house to get any medical treatment...)

<rant>

NHS administration - ooh, don't get me started!

I also changed my name via Deed Poll and I'd also read at GIRES that I could insist on being called by the correct name. So I happily trotted off to the surgery and filled in their forms... but about a month later I received a letter from them (addressed to my old name) saying that they couldn't change my name on their system unless I write to the local Health Authority first, because they'd told my GP that I'd probably need a new NHS number and my details couldn't be changed without that. So what you see in official NHS publications, and what they really do in your GP's surgery, are two very different things.

It's taken me a month to deal with this letter because of the dysphoria it caused me. During that month my prescriptions have run out and I've been ill - but there's no way on Earth I can even contemplate visiting the Surgery and having to answer to the wrong name when I'm called for my appointment (like you had to do). So I'm currently stuck with no access to medical treatment. I've put in a call to the Practice Manager to see if she can help.

I also phoned that well-known gender clinic in London to see when they're planning to process my referral... turns out they still have a huge backlog of applications so they can't even give me an estimate. They've already had my paperwork for six months; they don't know how many more months it'll take before they process it. Even then, there'll be a wait of umpteen more months before I actually have an appointment. So I might not even see them this year, after waiting 22 long, painful years to transition...

So I've also called my PCT to see if there's some way they'll pay for me to see someone privately. I'm entitled to treatment within 18 weeks but it's been six months since I last saw anyone. I also need to know what'll happen to things like blood tests & prescriptions if they're prescribed by that private doctor. Will I get them on the NHS or will I have to be out of pocket by thousands of pounds?

Don't trans people have enough to deal with without having to cope with wiping the NHS's bottom at the same time?

</rant>

[Jayne]

I feel your pain, ask to speak to someone in private, even though my records are stuck in my old name my GP has put a flag on the system so any GP knows to call my by by new name.
I give my new name & address to book appointments so when they look up the address they see my new name, this avoids having to use it, I still have to sign my old name & keep getting it wrong but at that will be the only reference to my old name.

If you have a polite word then there is no reason they shouldn't be able to accommodate you.

Best of luck

Jayne

[FTMDiaries]

If you have a polite word then there is no reason they shouldn't be able to accommodate you.

Thanks, I hope she'll be able to help in some way. Weirdly, my (NHS) physio changed my name with no trouble at all by setting my new name as a 'nickname'. My docs could probably do the same but my big problem is that they can't change the name on the message board that calls me for appointments and you know how everyone looks to see who gets up when each name is called.

And then there are my prescriptions - same problem in the pharmacy. Ah well. I'm sure it'll all turn out ok in the end

If you write to your Health Authority and send them a copy of your Deed Poll, that would force the change at your surgery. Their receptionists will know who to write to.

[AdamMLP]

I wouldn't worry about picking up prescriptions, no one here gets their own, it's always the wife getting the husbands, or vice versa, or even a woman getting her mother's. I don't know if they should allow it, but they do. Just act as if you're the wife. It's not pleasant but it's better than making yourself ill by missing medication. And actual appointments... Ours get so far behind everyone's too fuming to care what everyone else is doing, my mother had an appointment at 5:30 yesterday, at 6:35 she still hadn't been seen, I'm not sure when she actually was.

Do you have those horrible machines you have to use to say your there? I always thought how ridiculous it was that they ask whether you're male or female when I was going to talk with my GP about that very issue. Are there really that many people born on the same day, with an appointment on the same day, that it's really necessary?

My biggest gripe with the NHS though is CAMHS. I was seeing a shrink for other reasons, and he was only making them worse and I was leaving his sessions and having the school nurse ring me at home to check I was okay because she could tell how depressed he was making me. He told me he felt like was making progress when he made me feel like that, I thought it was their job to help you sort out problems like depression rather than bring back the crazy thoughts that landed me in hospital after a suicide attempt... He refused to let me see anyone else because he believed that if he didn't know how to help (he admitted that), no one else would because he's the most qualified in the area. He wouldn't stop seeing me after everyone, including my GP, agreed that it was making this worse for me to see him and they couldn't get funding for me to go outside of the trust.

I don't feel like I'm able to back to my GP and ask to move on with trans things because I need a CAMHS referral to go to a GIC and I can't risk putting my mental health at their mercy again. I also just feel abandoned because if my thoughts go black again, where do I have to turn to?

[FTMDiaries]

I wouldn't worry about picking up prescriptions, no one here gets their own, it's always the wife getting the husbands, or vice versa, or even a woman getting her mother's. I don't know if they should allow it, but they do. Just act as if you're the wife.

I did consider this, but even if I pretend I'm the wife or whatever, I'll still feel that internal stab of dysphoria whenever I hear my old name.

Do you have those horrible machines you have to use to say your there? I always thought how ridiculous it was that they ask whether you're male or female when I was going to talk with my GP about that very issue. Are there really that many people born on the same day, with an appointment on the same day, that it's really necessary?

Yes we do - the ones where you have to press a picture of a blonde woman before you can do anything else. I'm blond, so this is particularly jarring for me. Until they change my details I'll just go to Reception and sign in there.

No, the big problem for me is that we have electronic noticeboards in the waiting room that identify the title and full name of each patient. And since there's nothing better to do, every single patient looks up whenever a name is called and they stare at the person who was called. It's bad enough for me, but I hate to imagine what that would feel like to an early-RLE MtF who doesn't pass well, being forced to respond to a name like "MR JOSEPH BLOGGS" in screaming red capital letters.

My biggest gripe with the NHS though is CAMHS. I was seeing a shrink for other reasons, and he was only making them worse and I was leaving his sessions and having the school nurse ring me at home to check I was okay because she could tell how depressed he was making me. He told me he felt like was making progress when he made me feel like that, I thought it was their job to help you sort out problems like depression rather than bring back the crazy thoughts that landed me in hospital after a suicide attempt... He refused to let me see anyone else because he believed that if he didn't know how to help (he admitted that), no one else would because he's the most qualified in the area. He wouldn't stop seeing me after everyone, including my GP, agreed that it was making this worse for me to see him and they couldn't get funding for me to go outside of the trust.

That sucks - but you do have the right to demand a different doctor. And everyone in the NHS has a supervisor. It's not up to him who you see. You could always contact your PCT directly to talk to them about funding someone from outside the area. Mine has been happy to answer my questions and they've provided invaluable advice. You can find yours here: http://www.nhs.uk/servicedirectories/pages/primarycaretrustlisting.aspx

I don't feel like I'm able to back to my GP and ask to move on with trans things because I need a CAMHS referral to go to a GIC and I can't risk putting my mental health at their mercy again. I also just feel abandoned because if my thoughts go black again, where do I have to turn to?

Hang in there. As soon as you hit 18 you'll switch to adult services and CAMHS will just be a bad memory.

I had some counselling on the NHS last year and at the end of my sessions the counsellor gave me a list of therapists that I could see privately. Some cost money but some do it for free. Could you ask your doctor to provide a list of counselling services in your area? Then you can try out different people until you find one that fits.

With regards to GD, have you tried phoning the Tavistock directly and asking for their advice? They might be able to recommend another route to get to them that doesn't involve that shrink.

This is from the Tavistock's site (http://www.tavistockandportman.nhs.uk/childrenyoungpeoplegenderidentityissues):

"The service accepts referrals from across the UK.

The preferred route for referral is through a local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. However, we can also discuss possible referrals with other professionals in health, social services and education departments.

Young people and their families themselves are also welcome to contact us directly to discuss a possible referral."