Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the letter from Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust to the hon. Member for Hemsworth stating that waiting times for gender services post-pandemic range from four to seven years, what steps he is taking to increase access to gender services in West Yorkshire.

The National Health Service has established pilot gender identity clinics which are trialling new service models in sexual health and primary care services to reduce waiting times and improving patient outcomes. These pilots have been established in London, Manchester, Cheshire and Merseyside and the East of England, with a further clinic planned in Sussex later this year. The evaluation of the pilots will inform the future commissioning and provision of gender identity services.

The NHS is also working with existing providers of gender dysphoria services to increase clinical capacity where possible. In 2021/22, additional funding was provided for gender dysphoria services in West Yorkshire based at Leeds Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.