Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to reduce waiting times to access an initial appointment with gender identity services.
The National Health Service continues to establish new pilot gender dysphoria clinics under a new delivery model for this service. Pilot clinics have already opened in London, Cheshire and Merseyside, Manchester and the East of England and a further clinic is planned to open in Sussex later this year. These clinics will begin evaluation process to establish the viability of the new clinical models. This will reduce waiting times for patients and ensure the availability of these services for transgender people.