Hey all!
Sooo six weeks ago I had an appointment with my GP. I told him that I feel severely uncomfortable living as a male and asked for a referral to an appropriate specialist to discuss these issues (to be honest I know what I want, but I was kind of vague for some reason)... My GP said that he would refer me to a psychiatrist for an evaluation, and that I should receive a referral letter within the next few days.
As prefaced: six weeks ago I had an appointment with my GP – but there is still no letter.
I read somewhere that non-urgent referral patients should be seen within 18 weeks of referral, so perhaps this is premature, but should I be chasing this up? Also I'm moving house (only about 5 minutes away from where I am now) in four weeks time, and I'm slightly concerned it may get delivered to my old address even if I inform my GP's practice.. Arghhh
Any advice would be much appreciated! xo
Hiya,
These things take time. Be prepared for the long haul. For me, if I recall, it was about 8 weeks for the appointment so I would chase up your GP now. I had my referral letter a month prior to my appointment.
What part of the country are you in ?
Nikki
I'm in a sort of similar situation. After I finally realised that my GP didn't know that a GID clinic existed in London and thought I was talking about applying directly for GRS (nice couple of months wasted there) I gave him enough details to find out about it. Haven't heard anything since and that was towards the end of March.
Pretty sure it shouldn't take this long. I started the process while at uni in Scotland and within 3 weeks of seeing a doctor (luckly, she had a few trans patients and knew who to talk to) there, I had an appointment in the post to see the local psych team. I know its Scotland and not England, but still. 3 weeks vs about 6-7 weeks. So I'm going to make an appointment tomorrow and chase it up. I think some others who have been dealing with the system for years mentioned keeping on their backs, doing research into the system, keeping accurate records and showing you know your stuff and that they can't fob you off.
@Nikki, grrr the NHS really is slow.. I live in Wales too, and the Welsh section of the NHS seems to have a very backwards approach to helping people transition. The guidelines seem to actually avoid mentioning the prescription of hormones, and when they do a prescription requires 'Evidence of change of name and social gender role prior to the recommendation of treatment.'
Specialised Services Policy: CP21 Specialised Adult Gender Identity Services: http://tinyurl.com/kd8kmcj
@Goldfish, I'm fairly sure my GP was completely clueless... I think I'll go in and under the pretense of updating my address for when I move or something.
If you want to know more about 'The Process' at least so far for me so you can get an idea of what to expect, just PM me. I think it differs in North Wales as I believe (rightly or wrongly) that there is an established service there. I am based in South East Wales so I can give you an idea of what to expect in this area if it is helpful to you.
In face two of us here on Susans live within 1/2 a mile of each other and are in a somewhat similar situation as far as progress is concerned, so we have plenty of information we can bombard you with. :D
Nikki
Thanks, Nikki, I will certainly PM you when I have enough posts or whatever... I feel I could really do with some info! I'm also in South East Wales, so I imagine anything you say will be SUPERRR useful. :)
Oooooooohhh! Can I do the bombarding with information thing now? Can I? Can I? Can I?
Rosie
First of all, the requirement to see a local mental health specialist before going to the gender clinic has been removed, the GP needs to directly refer you to a gender clinic, the gender clinics deal with the psychiatrist assessment directly now. For GP's it is important to educate them on the current NHS protocol, as many dont know what the current thing is, and some dont even know that the NHS provides gender services, i was lucky to get someone who has helped people with gender issues before.
For Charring Cross Gender clinic the waiting time before your seen is currently around one year, for that reason i am getting privately assessed now, and getting the medication on shared care, so i only pay private rates for assessment. The reason why the waiting times are so long is that gender care services receive nowhere near enough funding due to people not really understanding the issue. Someone i spoke to before in south wales was referred to Charring Cross.
At the moment you do not receive any confirmation letter or anything until you have made it through the waiting list, although it sounds like efforts are being made to change this.
You are expected to see atleast two professionals before they prescribe you medication, so probably a Psychiatrist, and a Endocrinologist, and will only be happy with giving you HRT if evidence of some social transition has taken place, such as for me, the psychiatrist was happy that ive grown my hair out, and have neutral clothing, and therefore have a androgynous appearance. He was also pleased with the fact i have given names some thought and settled on one, he doesnt expect me to get it legally changed just yet however. The focus is on having a plan for gradual social transition as the HRT does its work. They wont be happy with putting you on HRT if the plan is an open ended wait and see what happens approach. Note however that they work on a case by case basis and are there to help you, so its in your interest to be open and honest with them and let them do their work.
Note that the person i saw is a consultant gender psychiatrist at Charring Cross Gender clinic, and does occasional private clinics on weekends, under the name GenderCare. They process people exactly how they would on the NHS. You can self refer to GenderCare and by extension i assume most other private clinics like it, although it helps to notify your doctor of the process so they are expecting the letter from the Gender Psychiatrist when the process begins to request shared care.
Wales does things differently from England. Certainly if you are covered by Aneurin Bevan. You still need to be referred to community mental health, name change before HRT and so on. I have a document covering the current procedure (in Wales) filed away somewhere. It looked like things were going to become a lot better after a report to the Welsh Assembly back in 2011-2012 but nothing really changed. On the upside we don't have to wait on Charing Cross. I went from GP to gender specialist in about 6 months.
Rosie
Quote from: H, H, H, Honeypot! on May 30, 2014, 04:29:30 AM
Wales does things differently from England. Certainly if you are covered by Aneurin Bevan. You still need to be referred to community mental health, name change before HRT and so on. I have a document covering the current procedure (in Wales) filed away somewhere. It looked like things were going to become a lot better after a report to the Welsh Assembly back in 2011-2012 but nothing really changed. On the upside we don't have to wait on Charing Cross. I went from GP to gender specialist in about 6 months.
Rosie
Then why is my friend in wales being referred to charring cross?
Yep, things certainly seem to be different here... The link I posted above seems to be the current procedure in Wales. It is, however, up for review in September 2015 (I imagine it will probably be brought into line with the newer guidelines for the NHS in England), but that feels a long way off....
Also, Rosie, you can do the bombarding with information thing whenever you want: I would certainly appreciate it! :D
Are you covered by Aneurin nemeni?
Rosie
Ahhh sorry, I believe I'm covered by the Cardiff and Vale board..
See, told you, not quite a bombardment though and I have not even started yet ;D
I think I read somewhere that the gender specilist here in SE Wales covers Cardiff and Vale too. if so, you may get lucky (ish) for the interim treatments before being referred to Charing Cross for the big(er) stuff.
Nikki
I was referred to Charing Cross in October 1989,in May 1991 I got an appointment!I hope things have improved
Quote from: big kim on May 30, 2014, 09:37:47 AM
I was referred to Charing Cross in October 1989,in May 1991 I got an appointment!I hope things have improved
Yes they have. I took 9 months to get there but I used the 9 months to do many of the things they would have told me to do so I have progressed very quickly and had my first surgical referral in less than a year after starting.
My friend who lives in Wales is also being sent to Charing when NHS Wales gets its act together. She started transitioning before I did and it looks like I will be getting my surgical stuff done before she gets her
referral to Charing by NHS Wales. She has gone private with Curtis for now while she waits. I am so glad that I am on the English side of the border.
Quote from: ytxwmb on May 30, 2014, 09:54:19 AM
I took 9 months to get there but I used the 9 months to do many of the things they would have told me to do so I have progressed very quickly.....
^^^^ This is very imortant. Do not wait for the NHS if you are sure transitioning is the thing for you.
Nikki
Definitely what Nikki said. If you are certain this is what you want to do then get started on it. The clock starts ticking from when you fill in the deed poll so it means that time waiting isn't time wasted. It is worthwhile following up with the GP. I found that making sure I had names and dates meant that I could always (politely) ask teh person concerned if there was any news. If it IS the same person covering Cardiff as covers Aneurin then you will be seeing the lovely and rather glamorous Dr Jamil. Before that you will be referred to community mental health to have an assessment as to whether you have any condition that may cause your feelings. Find out from your GP the name of the clinic, the person that you have been referred to and when you should expect to hear something. A week or two before that date ring the clinic and ask to speak to the doctor's secretary. Ask the secretary if the referral has made it through, I always took the line that the post around my way can be a little idiosyncratic, and that if it has whether an appointment has been made. I have known appointments to have been requested by the clinic but not make it on to the booking system so it is always worth ringing back.
Repeat this approach at every single point in the medical pathway. This will involve (at least) Dr Jamil's secretary and the endocrinologist's secretary. I don't know what comes after that as it is as far through the process as I have got. Nikki and I are currently repeating the "do you have a date when..." bit with Dr Jamil's secretary as the good doctor seems to be a little busy at the moment.
Best of luck! And if you fancy meeting up for tea, cake and a chat sometime then let me know. We may even be able to persuade Nikki to come along, provided there is enough cake. Or ice cream. And definitely coffee.
Rosie
Quote from: H, H, H, Honeypot! on May 30, 2014, 03:25:35 PM
We may even be able to persuade Nikki to come along, provided there is enough cake. Or ice cream. And definitely coffee.
Rosie
Oh, go on then... ;D
Thank you all so so so much for your replies, your advice is really useful! I think I know what I need to do now.. which should be fun.
And Rosie, that's really sweet of you to offer, perhaps we should someday. :)
Sling me a PM with your email address and I will let you know what the lovely NikkiT and I are up to. I would rather not advertise it all over the internets for obvious reasons.
Rosie