Hilary Cass’s review of children’s gender services revealed how young people are being badly let down by the NHS. The picture for adults awaiting treatment in NHS gender clinics is similarly bleak: the current system is broken – and thousands of people are stuck in limbo.
The NHS is struggling to cope with the demand on its gender services
The waiting list at my old clinic – I am an alumnus of what used to be known as the ‘Charing Cross’ Gender Identity Clinic in London – has ballooned to 15,448 people. In March, just 35 first appointments were held at the Gender Identity Clinic. At that rate, it could take decades to clear the backlog, even as the referrals continue to flood in: that same month, over 250 referrals came through; in February, there were another 406. These are catastrophically large numbers for what is essentially a cottage industry made for different times.
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