Confused! NHS referral process.

[nameuser]

I'm so confused. But so excited!

My GP sent off my referral letter to the local gender clinic on the 31st of March. My referral seems to have been processed because I just got a phone call arranging an appointment to take bloods, my height and weight and so on. And the nurse arranging it said the GIC was requesting it. So that's excellent news!

But given that the waiting list to actually get assessed by the GIC is currently about a year, this seems a little premature. Surely the tests they do now will no longer be relevant by the time treatment's on the cards? I don't understand why they're doing this now - though I am very excited, as this feels like progress.

Well, I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on what's going on, based on your experience or general wisdom. I should've asked the nurse on the phone but I had a social anxiety panic >.> hope you're all having a magical day.

[Kylo]

Yeah, I'm not sure why they would do that. They never took any physical tests with me (Exeter GIC). Those tests for me will come at the end of this year apparently... which will be 2 years since I was first referred. Supposedly they will be taken shortly before I get T, and getting T conditionally on those results.

[Laura_7]

You might think about bridging treatment meanwhile.

https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,208198.msg1845578.html#msg1845578

https://gendergp.co.uk/

They also have materials to help with the NHS...


hugs

[nameuser]

Yeah, I'm not sure why they would do that. They never took any physical tests with me (Exeter GIC). Those tests for me will come at the end of this year apparently... which will be 2 years since I was first referred. Supposedly they will be taken shortly before I get T, and getting T conditionally on those results.

That's what I was expecting to happen. I'm going through Charing Cross, which is the busiest I think - so maybe they have a sort of preliminary elimination round? Where they root out the people with health problems that would make treatment impossible before it ever gets to the assessment stage?

Maybe that would be a little insane.

Hnng. I suppose I can just ask the nurse...ooh, a week today. And try not to get too paranoid in the meantime.

Best of luck with your tests when they come around, and thank you for your reply.

Thank you too, Laura :3

[Laura_7]

That's what I was expecting to happen. I'm going through Charing Cross, which is the busiest I think - so maybe they have a sort of preliminary elimination round? Where they root out the people with health problems that would make treatment impossible before it ever gets to the assessment stage?

Maybe that would be a little insane.

Hnng. I suppose I can just ask the nurse...ooh, a week today. And try not to get too paranoid in the meantime.

Best of luck with your tests when they come around, and thank you for your reply.

Thank you too, Laura :3

*hugs*

I'd rather presume they look for fodder of their mill so they have some values to go with.


hugs

[Elis]

The nurse requested I take a blood test to go with my referal too and I also requested to go to Charring Cross. Of course it's pointless as it's a 13 month waiting list; but I guess they do it for referrals to all GICS.  One GIC has a waiting list of 6 months so it makes a lot more sense; but many have much longer waiting times; so the mandatory health check has become obsolete. That as well as the NHS is still behind the times and assumes all trans patients want hormones or surgeries.

[Lisa55]

Northampton didn't ask for any blood-work or medical check up prior to first appointment, They said they used to get the GP's to do it but so often it was not done right that they just do it themselves now.

The other side of some GIC's asking for the checks early is maybe not so much filtering out people from the list but it would allow your GP to get anything like undiagnosed Diabetes, blood pressure etc under control before you get to the GIC so not completely worthless unless the GP ignores the results with a "its a trans problem leave it to the GIC" AKA trans broken wrist syndrome

[nameuser]

So they really are just stealing people's blood for no good reason. Unless there's a secret vampire cult heading the GICs.

The NHS is so strange. You'd think cost-cutting would be a strong enough motivator for them to start using common sense. Still, I'm essentially getting a free physical, so I'm not about to complain. Plus, I always get complimented on my enormous veins when I get blood taken - that'll brighten my day (though last time, the nurse laughed and called me a squirter ).

Lisa, that does actually make a lot of sense. I'll focus on that side of things, it seems healthier thank you for setting my mind at ease. You too Elis <3 and Laura again *hugs*

[FTMDiaries]

Sadly they're not vampires... there is a good reason why they're doing this. CHX started doing this relatively recently, particularly for patients from Wales. It's the Welsh funding board that insists on this, not CHX. Which, by the way, is the reason why other clinics don't do this: CHX is the only NHS clinic that Welsh patients can attend. If you're not in Wales, then it's possible that they've started rolling this out for other patients.

They do these tests at this early stage because they're trying to rule out patients who have chromosomal issues or intersex conditions, because the funding for those is different so they'd have to send you down a different pathway. Of course, they also do some general tests so that any pre-existing conditions can be managed before you see them, because the presumption is that most patients will probably want hormone therapy.

[nameuser]

FTMDiaries - thanks for helping solve the mystery~

Got back from the appointment a little while ago and thought I'd give an update and a walkthrough in case anyone's having one of these appointments in the near future and wants more info/is feeling anxious.

So, the nurse took my blood pressure, height and weight, and worked out my BMI. Then there were the standard "do you smoke?", "how much do you drink?", "do you take recreational drugs?" questions. After that, she stuck a needle in my arm (after complimenting my veins ) and drained most of the blood from my body. Five vials! Five! And they were big vials. She said it was the most she'd ever taken in one go. I'm genuinely concerned that my vampire theory wasn't far from the truth.

That was pretty much it. Really nothing to be anxious about, undead notwithstanding. Took ten or fifteen minutes. Very little pain, retained the vast majority of my dignity.

The blood tests are to screen for "just about everything." Diabetes, deficiencies, hormonal abnormalities. If they do detect hormonal abnormalities, they'll pull you in for further testing which might involve checking whether you're intersex. The nurse was absolutely lovely and very understanding - they all are at that surgery. She asked my preferred name and put a note on my medical records so NHS people know to use it in the future.

I'll sum up by saying it's been a good morning I'm a centimetre taller than I thought I was! And now I'm off to grow some more blood cells. Thank you all, and a wonderful day to you~

[Elis]

Great to hear it went well . Yeah; it was the same routine for me and I think they took 5 vials as well. I'm starting to side with your vampire theory 

[FTMDiaries]

Glad it went well! And it's a step in the right direction. Onwards & upwards!