Accessing and utilising gender-affirming healthcare in England and Wales: trans and non-binary people’s accounts of navigating gender identity clinics

32Citations
Citations of this article
151Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

Background: Transgender, or trans, people experience a number of barriers to accessing gender-affirming healthcare and have a range of barriers and facilitators to primary care and specialist services, commonly citing discrimination and cisgenderism playing a central role in shaping accessibility. The pathway through primary care to specialist services is a particularly precarious time for trans people, and misinformation and poorly applied protocols can have a detrimental impact on wellbeing. Method: We recruited trans participants from an HIV Self-Testing Public Health Intervention (SELPHI) trial to interviews which explored contemporary gender-affirming service experiences, with an aim to examine the path from primary care services through to specialist gender services, in the UK. Results: A narrative synthesis of vignettes and thematic analysis of in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with twenty trans individuals. We summarise positive and negative accounts of care under three broad categories: Experiences with primary care physicians, referrals to gender identity clinics (GICs), and experiences at GICs. Conclusions: We discuss implications of this research in terms of how to improve best practice for trans people attempting to access gender-affirming healthcare in the UK. Here we highlight the importance of GP’s access to knowledge around pathways and protocols and clinical practice which treats trans patients holistically.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Wright, T., Nicholls, E. J., Rodger, A. J., Burns, F. M., Weatherburn, P., Pebody, R., … Witzel, T. C. (2021). Accessing and utilising gender-affirming healthcare in England and Wales: trans and non-binary people’s accounts of navigating gender identity clinics. BMC Health Services Research, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-021-06661-4

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free