GREEN advisers have called on the NHS to consider how it can improve healthcare for trans people.
In a joint letter to Brighton and Hove City Council’s Health Oversight and Control Committee, councilors Hannah Clare and Steph Powell called for an inquiry into the state of trans healthcare.
The city’s Trans Equality Review Panel in 2013 recommended numerous health care improvements, including the possibility of opening a gender identity clinic.
However, the duo said in their letter, “Nearly ten years later, that goal is no further along. It has never been more urgent.”
Current figures reveal that more than 10,000 people are currently on the waiting list at London’s closest gender identity clinic to Brighton and Hove, with those referred facing waits of around five years .
Cllr Clare, who chairs the Children, Youth and Skills Commission, said: “In my role, I regularly meet young people and I am struck by the number of those who have expressed their wish for better access to care.
“Recently a youngster on a school visit I took asked me why we didn’t have a gender identity clinic in Brighton and Hove.
“Nearly ten years after a request from the city’s Trans Review Board, I think this is an incredibly important question that needs an answer.”
A study carried out last year by TransActual found that 98% of trans people surveyed across the UK felt the transition-related healthcare available on the NHS was not adequate.
Cllr Powell, who co-chairs the Tourism, Equalities, Communities and Culture Committee, said: ‘Trans people are currently under constant attack in the press and online and the government’s recent announcement on conversion therapy is an extra move.
“We need to do more for our trans residents to help them feel safe and ensure they have adequate access to healthcare.
“I hope the Health Oversight and Review Board can take a deep look at this important topic and work with the NHS to introduce the necessary changes.”
The government has recently drawn criticism after backtracking on commitments to include trans people in upcoming legislation to ban conversion therapy.
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Source: www.theargus.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-04-09 04:00:00
