While not all trans and non-binary people medically transition, and there might be concerns about patient safety for those who do it can be a time of both joy and anxiety.
Many patients who undergo hormone therapy have concerns about how it will affect them.
That’s why our number one priority at GenderGP is patient safety. Gender-affirming care, including hormone replacement therapies (HRT), has been proven to be safe over decades of successful practice and follows the best patient safety guidelines.
At GenderGP we know that every patient’s body and hormone profile is different and that individualised care and close attention to patient safety provides the best, safest results.
Our medical team tailors our treatment pathways to each person’s wants and needs.
Patient Safety at GenderGP
Of course, we also understand that patient choice, and patient safety is vital.
Many individuals prefer to use NHS services for some or all of their gender-affirming care, and we fully respect these choices.
Many of our own patients use GenderGP as a bridging service while they wait to be seen by a GIC.
However, there is no disparity between our services and the NHS in terms of quality or safety.
Our medications are prescribed in line with international standards of best practice, like the WPATH Standards of Care, and our doctors are handpicked from around the world for their commitment to affirmative healthcare with patient safety in mind.
In fact, we provide blood tests more frequently and with more specificity than UK GICs, whether they’re carried out by a local NHS service or one of our dedicated pathology labs.
Trans Patient Safety is Paramount
This is especially true for patients who may require additional monitoring, including:
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- transmasculine people on testosterone therapy require patient safety guidelines and attention
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- those on certain medications, like spironolactone require patient safety guidelines and attention
- people with pre-existing conditions that require special care, require patient safety guidelines and attention.
Whatever your journey, we’re ready to find the best way to support you.
Patient Safety for Trans People: WPATH Standards of Care, Version 7
WPATH’s Standards of Care (SOC) is a patient safety guideline for the treatment of transgender people, within is contained a plethora of guidelines, and best practices, that help to keep trans patient safety top of mind when providing gender-affirming care for this vulnerable cohort of the population.
It’s intended to meet the incredibly various health needs of the transgender, transsexual, and non-binary or two-spirit community, and allows medical practitioners, councillors, clinicians, and nurses to have access to a resource that’s sensitive and all-encompassing when it comes to serving trans people healthcare, globally.
The WPATH SoC is considered to be a malleable set of guidelines, with patient safety for trans people, transsexual people, and non-binary people, top-of-mind.
It offers the most optimal healthcare practices for anybody who may be experiencing the trials and trivialities of Gender Dysphoria.
This can be defined as the discomfort or distress of your body, or presentation, not meeting your own innate gender identity.
It articulates and sets out guidelines on:
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Standards of Care: Purpose and Use
- How to use the standards of care 7, it mentions its flexibility but also how to be sensitive and provide the best care to trans and non-binary people
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Standards of Care: Global Applicability
- A lot of clinical experience and knowledge in this area is, of course, derived from Western and European and North American Souces. Naturally, there are differences in social attitudes, and the overall construction of gender roles and identities within that society might also come into play. The language used to describe the different gender roles and identities may also be different.
- The SOC7 can of course, not reflect each and all of these differences, and it doesn’t aim to. It’s important for health professionals to be incredibly sensitive when applying each of these different standards of care in context with the culture or society that they are serving.
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The Difference Between Gender Nonconformity and Gender Dysphoria
- The SOC7 notes that there is a difference between both Gender Dysphoria and Gender Non-Conformity. The experience of being transgender, transsexual, or non-binary is not pathology, it’s diversity.
- In May 2010, WPATH released a statement urging for the e-psychopathologization of gender nonconformity globally.
- There is still stigma attached to gender nonconformity around the world, which can lead to prejudice and discrimination, and result in something called minority stress.
- Some people do experience Gender Dysphoria to such a degree, that the distress meets the criteria were a much more formal diagnosis but made, this might classify it as a mental disorder. By all accounts, with or without a diagnosis, this should not be a license for discrimination, shame, or prejudice.
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Epidemiologic Considerations
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Approaches to Therapy for Gender Dysphoria: Overview
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Gender Dysphoria and Treatment of Children and Adolescents, and their Assessments.
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Mental Health for the Trans Community
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Reproductive Health for the Trans Community
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Voice and Communication Therapy
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Surgery for Transgender People
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Transgender Postoperative Care and How to Follow Up
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Lifelong preventive and Primary Care
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Applicability of the Standards of Care to People Living in Institutional Environments
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Applicability of the Standards of Care to People with Disorders of Sexual Development
We reached out to Marianne, a GIC patient, for comment: My GP never asks or expects me to have a blood test. The GIC sent a letter at the start of treatment and my GP neither has the time or the inclination to be bothered. In three years I have had five blood tests, all at my request, and the result has never been discussed in depth. GenderGP patients are advised every three months and reminders are sent, and they are overwhelmingly up to date with their blood tests.
We provide safe, timely access to gender-affirming care, without waiting lists. There’s no right or wrong way to transition – the important thing is finding what’s right for you, and doing it safely. Whether you’re ready to start treatment or you still have questions that need answering, GenderGP is here to support you.
If you have any questions or concerns about our services, you can always get in touch via our website. Alternatively, you can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.