In light of the debate in the House of Lords on improving the health of lesbian, bisexual and transwomen, Healthwatch England wrote to Baroness Barker to share the issues that you have escalated on gender identity services. The briefing had been sent to Baroness Gould of Potternewton (Lab).

They were really pleased to see that your concerns have been raised during the debate. Baroness Gould said:

‘To date, NHS England has produced an interim gender dysphoria protocol to be completed next year, as well as service guidelines. A task and finish group has been created to look at key areas. The latter arose after concerns raised by Healthwatch England and local Healthwatch committees around the country about trans people’s healthcare and treatment. Specifically, Healthwatch England identified miscommunication locally about who commissions or funds the service, considerable delays in accessing services, individuals being put on waiting lists when “money has run out” and changes in timelines for treatment. There is terrible inefficiency that means that individuals fall out of the access pathway and struggle to reaccess the service. One can only imagine the despair of the trans woman faced with such a dreadful situation.’

Later on, Earl Howe said:

‘The noble Baroness, Lady Gould, spoke very powerfully, as she always does, about the position of trans people and, in particular, about waiting times. NHS England acknowledges that there are some system delays at both gender identity clinic level and surgery level. It has set up, as she mentioned, a task and finish group to look at the issue of delays and has engaged with the three surgical providers to discuss options. It is under no illusions about this. I am well aware that Healthwatch England has made its opinions very clear to NHS England, and I pay tribute to it for that.’