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Campaign for transition healthCARE

Collaborative - Accessible - Resourced - Equal

All trans people deserve healthcare that supports us to make well informed decisions about our transitions, our bodies and lives. Right now, many trans people are waiting years to access gender identity services. When we are finally offered appointments, too many of us experience long travel distances, frustrating inconsistences and lack of person-centred care. Action must be taken to improve transition healthcare!

Photo of a hand raised up for help with a trans flag painted on its palm.

Here are 3 important actions you can take now to help end the years of waiting.

Choose one or two, or do all three!

  1. Tell us how waiting impacts on you
  2. Fill in our two minute anonymous survey to let us know what your GIC appointments are like
  3. Complain to your health board about unacceptable waits and problems at GICs

We need healthcare that delivers for all trans people.
Here’s what we think that looks like:

Collaborative icon

Collaborative

- supporting informed consent and person-centred care

Our healthcare should provide the person-centred information and support we need to live our happiest, healthiest lives. We should be empowered to work collaboratively with healthcare professionals to explore what makes our lives more liveable. Not made to jump through hoops to fit into narrow stereotypes. We need trust in order to reflect on uncertainties and not feel under pressure to hide aspects of ourselves.

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Accessible

- fully including diverse trans people all across Scotland

Whether you live in Edinburgh, Fort William, or Lerwick, you should have good access to healthcare. There should be more places transition healthcare is delivered, and telephone and video appointments should be provided smoothly. Disabled trans people, minority ethnic trans people, homeless trans people, and all ages of trans people need to be provided with inclusive and adaptable transition healthcare.

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Resourced

- funding that achieves NHS waiting time standards

The long waiting times measured in years are not ok. Months to make referrals and clinics never answering the phone is not ok. Getting forgotten by overworked clinicians is not ok. Having almost no trans-friendly mental health support is not ok. Our healthcare is important and must be properly funded. Our NHS is important and must be properly funded. So many in our community share in common the months and years of waiting. It can’t stay like this.

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Equal

- ending healthcare discrimination against trans people

Too much of our healthcare is delivered by psychiatrists and isolated specialist services when it doesn’t need to be. Let’s change the system and make sure that more healthcare professionals like nurses, GPs and sexual health practitioners can deliver effective transition healthcare. We need our health service to treat trans people as regular patients – some of our needs are complex, many are simple.

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30 Bernard Street
Edinburgh EH6 6PR

Scottish Trans is part of the Equality Network

Scottish Trans is the Equality Network project to improve gender identity and gender reassignment equality, rights and inclusion in Scotland. The Equality Network is a leading Scottish lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) equality and human rights charity.

The Equality Network is a registered Scottish charity: SC037852, and a company limited by guarantee: SC220213.

We are grateful for funding from the Scottish Government