chest surgery

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Provisional English Protocol for Gender Reassignment, 2013-2014

NHS England Interim Gender Protocol CPAG Approved 12-7-13 (released 15th July 2013)

Key changes to current treatment, and other points of interest:

  • GPs may refer patients directly to Gender Identity Clinics (GICs). It is not necessary for GPs to first refer patients to another specialist service (e.g. a psychiatrist). This is important because until now most GICs in England have required patients to be referred by a mental health specialist.
  • Facial hair removal will be available on the NHS. The Interim Protocol describes facial hair removal as “essential treatment for MtF patients” (p.10). It is funded by NHS England, rather than CCGs (Clinical Commissioning Groups: these replace Primary Care Trusts). Patients are (in theory) guaranteed nine facial hair removal treatments: one test patch, and nine sessions. Funding can be sought for further treatments but is not guaranteed.
  • Hair removal prior to genital surgery will be available on the NHS. Funding for this service is provided through NHS England in a similar manner to facial hair removal for MtF patients.
  • Adult treatment is available to trans people from the age of 17. The Gender Identity Development Service at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust will continue to provide services in London, Exeter and Leeds for trans people under the age of 18, according to its own guidelines. This means that trans people aged 17 may choose between “adult” and “young people’s” services.
  • Breast augementation, facial feminisation surgery, lipoplasty and sperm/egg storage may be funded. Breast augementation will only be funded if “there is a clear failure of breast growth in response to adequate hormone treatment”. All of these procedures are funded by CCGs rather than centrally through NHS England, which means that GICs must apply to CCGs for funding. They will be funded (or not) according to CCG policy, which may vary.
  • Patients require only one assessment from a GIC team member in order to be referred for psychotherapy or speech therapy. This is important as it has the potential to speed up access to speech therapy and additional psychotherapeutic support.
  • Patients must recieve assessment from two GIC team members in order to recieve hormone therapy. This is important because until now, some GICs in England have required assessment from more than two team members. Conversely, it reinforces the position of those clinicians who argue that two opinions is necessary before treatment can begin.
  • 12-24 months of “real life experience” is required prior to the provision of genital reassignment surgery. This is important because it means that patients can (in theory) access genital surgery within a year, in line with WPATH guidance. However, it is likely that clinics will continue to demand at least 2 years of “real life experience” prior to surgery.
  • A wait of at least 6 months is necessary prior to the provision of chest surgery for FtM patients. The guidance on this is somewhat vague, which should allow flexibility but may be exploited by more conservative GICs. The Interim Protocol states that patients who qualify for chest surgeries “may have engaged in a social role transition” (emphasis mine), and that a referral will “typically” be offered “around 9-12 months, but no less than 6 months, after the patient’s first consultation”.
  • Surgical providers are supposed to inform primary care staff (i.e. GPs and nurses) of procedural details and post-operative needs. We’ll see how this one pans out in practice!

Overall, this Protocol should result in a broad improvement in transition-related services for trans people living in England and Wales. If all goes to plan, more services will be available to more people, who will have to do less waiting for them! I offer a more in-depth discussion of these changes – and comparisons to the Scottish Protocol – here (please note that there have been changes since I wrote that post – e.g. GPs should now be able to directly refer to GICs, and facial hair removal should be provided on the NHS in England and Wales, just like Scotland) .

However, GICs may yet resist some of the measures in this document. The protocol was meant to come into force for all trans patients access transition-related services from 1 October 2013, so now is the time to hold medical providers to account.

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Scottish protocol for Gender Services (largely) adopted in England

It appears that much of the widely-lauded NHS Scotland Gender Reassignment Protocol will be adopted in England from 1st June 2013.

This will be a temporary measure, taken as the result of “inconclusive feedback through the consultation exercise on specifications and policies” for the English Protocol. Last year, the draft English Protocol was criticised by many trans people for failing to live up to the progressive standard set by the Scottish Protocol. I wrote about this here.

This information comes from a letter written to stakeholders in the Gender Identity Services Clinical Reference Group.


What will this mean for English patients in the short term?

As the Scottish Transgender Alliance noted in July 2012, the Scottish Protocol “is not perfect but it is an important step forward for trans people in Scotland“. It incorporates a number of clauses that ensure relatively swift access to services (including hormone therapy and surgeries) for those already “in the system” and on the books of a Gender Identity Clinic (GIC).

Key features of the temporary Protocol for England would therefore include:

  • that psychotherapy/counselling, support and information should be made available to people seeking gender reassignment and their families where needed.
  • that two gender specialist assessments and 12-months experience living in accordance with desired gender role are needed for referral for NHS funded genital surgeries
  • only one gender specialist assessment is needed for referral for speech therapy, hormone treatment and FtM chest reconstruction surgery and that these can take place in an individualised patient-centred order either prior to starting the 12-month experience or concurrently to the 12-month experience.

(Bullet points from the Scottish Transgender Alliance. Emphasis mine.)

All of these provisions should (in theory!) entail a more rapid, efficient access to services for patients at many English GICs.


Exceptions

Unfortunately, several particularly progressive aspects of the Scottish Protocol will not be adopted in England. According to the letter sent out to stakeholders, these include:

  • Referral to Gender Identity Clinics (access)
  • Facial hair removal
  • Breast augmentation

“Discussion on these areas” is being “deferred” because “it is recognised these need further discussion and also because England’s health service is structured differently and therefore a slightly different approach will be necessary”

The first point (“referral to Gender Identity Clinics”) is somewhat ambiguous, but appears to mean that provisions made in Scotland for self-referral and referral by GP to GICs will not be implemented in England, at least in the short term. Most English GICs currently only accept referrals from mental health specialist such as psychiatrists, so this looks set to continue.

The letter further states that:

“[…] decisions relating to direct access, facial hair removal and breast augmentation being deferred by all NHS England Area Teams until after the June meeting when further work can be undertaken to reach the interim NHS England Policy and Specification for adoption. Where an individual has already had agreement for any of these procedures then these would go ahead, the deferment relates to decisions not yet made.”

This would appear to imply that no new referrals will be provided for facial hair removal and breast augmentation on the NHS in England, at least for the time being. In most parts of the country this is the norm, but in some areas this will effectively be a step backward.


What about young people?

A final significant aspect of the Scottish Protocol is that it provided for the provision of better services young trans people:

  • that young people aged 16 are entitled to be assessed and treated in the same manner as adults in terms of access to hormones and surgeries.
  • that children and young people under age 16 are entitled to child and adolescent specialist assessment and treatment as per the relevant section of the WPATH Standards of Care.

(Bullet points from the Scottish Transgender Alliance. Emphasis mine.)

It’s not clear whether or not this part of the Protocol will come into play in England, but I suspect that this counts as “access to Gender Identity Clinics”, meaning that nothing will change – in the short term at least.


Analysis

I would suggest that this development is, on the whole, a positive one for the majority of trans patients in England. It will hopefully ensure a number of improvements in access to treatment, particularly for individuals seeking hormone therapy and individuals on the transmasculine spectrum seeking chest surgery (including for individuals seeking chest surgery prior to hormone therapy, or chest surgery without any accompanying hormone therapy). It should encourage GICs to acknowledge trans diversity and provide treatment more adequately tailored to individual circumstance.

Moreover, the implementation of this Protocol means that some of the more regressive elements of the draft English Protocol (such as the requirement for GPs to undertake a “physical examination” ) will hopefully not see the light of day.

Of course, there will continue to be resistance from some of the more conservative GICs. However, the existence of the temporary protocol should empower patients who wish to make the case for better services from these bodies.

It is important to note once again that this is a temporary measure, and that the new English Protocol that is eventually implemented may not necessarily reflect the Scottish Protocol to such a great extent. A meeting will be held in June for members of the Clinical Reference Group to discuss what might happen next. We can only hope that the outcome will be a positive one for trans patients.

However, this move sets an important precedent. A set of relatively progressive new rules are being put in place, meaning that it should be harder for GICs to justify inadequate service provision. This is a new benchmark which health campaigners can use as a starting point for future campaigns.

Finally, the “inconclusive feedback” from “consultation” suggests that pressure from trans health advocates is actually having an effect, particularly as many GICs will no doubt have been pushing for a continuation of the status quo. Credit is due to all those individuals and organisations that responded to the consultation on the draft English protocol a year ago, and members of the Clinical Reference Group who are pushing for positive change.