Hundreds of surgeries suddenly cancelled following a ban on NHS Wales referrals
A large number of gender-affirming surgeries have been cancelled in hospitals across the UK following the NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee (NWJCC) ordering a pause on all surgical referrals from the Welsh Gender Service (WGS), pending an independent clinical review. As a result, Welsh patients have had their surgeries cancelled at the eleventh hour, despite many having travelled long distances across Britain; some patients were even admitted to hospital, minutes away from being sent down to theatre.
We at Trans Aid Cymru, a Welsh mutual aid support group, and Trans Partnership Cymru, a stakeholder group for patients of the Welsh Gender Service, are incredibly alarmed by this situation and the wide-reaching emotional and financial impacts it is predictably having on patients.
We understand that the NWJCC has concerns over data that shows the WGS refers patients for gender-affirming surgery more often than English services; we know that this is due to the Welsh Gender Service seeing patients in a prompt and efficient manner, unlike the English gender service model, rather than any lack of rigour, and would welcome the opportunity to contribute to the service review.
We however remain extremely concerned that despite NHS Wales having several days between its initial decision to escalate the service on Monday and issuing the pause order on Wednesday, this decision was made without any input whatsoever from stakeholders, especially as the NWJCC has failed to meet with us in over 2 years, and without any apparent plan for the hundreds of patients.
It is frankly irresponsible that this decision seems to have been made by the NWJCC with no consultation, no consideration for affected patients, and ultimately, no plan.
We are in contact with several patients who had their surgeries suddenly cancelled and who are willing to talk about their experience.
Trans Aid Cymru
Trans Partnership Wales
If you’ve been affected by this situation, please get in touch with us using either our form at https://forms.gle/ZxsDbiTV2YbFXHP78, or by email at [email protected] .