There's a lot of confusion (and mild panic!) going on in parts of the UK trans community about the status of Charing Cross GIC, after they released a very confusing statement yesterday which gave some people (and parts of the media) the impression that the GIC is closing down. Any patients coming across these rumours (or reading about them in the press - I'm looking at you,
Gay Star News) is likely to be distraught, so I thought it would be good to set people's minds at ease.
It's not closing down and everyone's appointments are still fine. This has been confirmed by Dr James Barrett, who was kind enough to respond to patients' concerns after the story blew up yesterday.
The statement that's causing all the confusion is actually from West London Mental Health Trust, which is the NHS Trust that currently funds CHX. All they're trying to say is that as the medical profession is moving away from considering Gender Dysphoria to be a mental health problem, the GIC has decided that it's becoming increasingly inappropriate for them to be funded by a Mental Health trust. So NHS England is going to fund the GIC via another Trust, rather than directly through WLMHT.
It will be under new management but the staff who treat you will be the same. It's still going to be run in the same location; you'll still see the same clinicians; and your appointments will be honoured as per usual. You'll probably notice no differences apart from a different logo on their letterheads (and hopefully better service!). And as far as Dr Lorimer's aware, there won't be any changes for Welsh patients as a result of this. WLMHT will continue funding it until the new Trust has taken over, so it should be seamless.
Here's the statement in full, if you'd like to read it. It's recently been updated with a statement from Dr James Barrett, confirming that they're not closing. Phew!
And
here's Gay Star News' irresponsible and misleading story. Please remember that they got the wrong end of the stick if you choose to read this.
