On the 5th July, the Chief Medical Officer issued a report for Scottish Government's consideration on the preferred service model for Young People's Gender Identity Care. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde welcome the report and will review the recommendations while awaiting the Scottish Government’s response. In the meantime, we will continue to support our young patients.
New referral arrangements for adult and young people’s gender services
New referral arrangements are now in place for our Gender Identity Services.
Our Adult Gender Service and Young People’s Gender Service will now only accept referrals from clinicians, and patients will no longer be able to self-refer.
This is to ensure patients are properly supported and placed appropriately on our waiting lists.
Gender patients will now be referred by their GP, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, or Adult Mental Health service clinician.
Please note: this update will not impact anyone who is already on waiting lists for the Young People’s Gender Service nationally or the Adult Gender Service for the West of Scotland.
The new arrangements are consistent with other clinical specialties, and will also mean patients can be advised of self-care and signposted to appropriate support while they wait for their first gender service appointment.
It will also mean our gender services will have an accurate background for each patient before their first appointment, allowing us to immediately plan the most appropriate path for their care.
We will only accept patients living within the following health boards:
Please note that there are other providers in Lothian, Grampian, Highland and Tayside which may be more suitable for your location. For more information and contact details for these clinics, please click here.
If your query is regarding a patient currently being seen by our service, it will be passed to the relevant clinician. However, our service is currently experiencing significant pressures, and a reply may take some time.
If your query is regarding a person who is not currently being seen in the service, then sorry we will not be able to respond.
If your query is regarding a new referral or a patient on the waiting list, please note that due to the pressures within the service, patients are currently experiencing significant waits.
We are working hard to address the challenges within our service, and we are moving as quickly as we can to recruit new staff, however we acknowledge and apologise for the stress and anxiety this might cause for any person or family/friend of a person waiting to access our service.
If you are concerned about your mental health or need further support, please see the information below.
We are currently allocating appointments to those referred during the following periods:
Adult Gender Service Waiting list: November 2018
Young Person Gender Service Waiting list: June 2019
More information on waiting lists and our processes can be found on each service's respective page.
Mental Health Support
We wish to assure you that our small dedicated team are doing everything they can to continue to support people and the service pressures are being reviewed by the health board and nationally.
We understand that some people waiting for our service may be struggling with their mental health.
If you think you are at risk of seriously harming yourself, please speak to your GP who can help you get the right sort of support.
For more support you can contact Samaritans by phoning 116 123 any time of day, any day of the year, or online.
Breathing Space is another great resource that offers free, confidential phone services for anyone in Scotland experiencing low mood, depression or anxiety. You can phone on 0800 83 85 87 from 6pm-2am on weekdays, or 24 hours at the weekends.
For young people, Childline offers support via the phone on 0800 1111 or online.
