Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times at Sheffield Gender Identity Clinic.

The Gender Identity Clinic in Sheffield is one of seven nationally commissioned adult Gender Dysphoria clinics in England. To reduce wait times, NHS England has expanded the number of clinical and administrative posts available within the Sheffield Clinic, in addition to improving the training and support offered to primary care to support hormone prescribing. Those who are on the waiting list are also supported by dedicated Peer Support Workers.

NHS England is committed to reducing wait times across all gender services. Since July 2020, NHS England has increased clinical capacity with the rollout of five new adult gender pilot clinics. The rollout of these new clinics is helping to tackle long waiting times, which had increased due to a shortage of specialist clinical staff to meet the rapidly rising demand.

NHS England is currently undertaking a review of adult gender services, chaired by Dr David Levy. The review will examine the model of care and operating procedures of each service, and will carefully consider experiences, feedback, and outcomes from clinicians and patients, with the aim of producing an updated service specification