The NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee (NWJCC) will meet on Tuesday 22nd September to discuss the unprecedented cancellation of all transition-related surgeries and surgical assessments for adults referred via the Welsh Gender Service (WGS).
According to the WGS, 451 patients have had their care cancelled, including patients who were already in hospital awaiting surgery.
Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, a report by the NWJCC Chief Commissioner was published that has raised further questions on what justified the decision to pause access to care, and who raised the complaints that triggered the decision in the first place.
According to the report, the decision to cancel transition-related care supposedly followed “routine quality, safety and assurance processes” that noted the Welsh Gender Service had a higher referral rate than other (and in our view, less effective) gender services in the UK.
However, the report also claims that “concerns were raised by NHSE clinical colleagues about appropriateness of referrals and clinical suitability”, and that these were “echoed in complaints and correspondence received from members of the public” – though once again, no more information has been given on whether these complaints had come from trans people or even what the nature of the complaints were. The report also no longer mentions any concerns from patients, despite previously claiming that this was a factor.
These concerns then drove the NWJCC to “escalate the Welsh Gender Service to Escalation Level 3, thereby pausing referrals from the Welsh Gender Service for gender affirming surgery” – though it is still unclear why unevidenced and vague concerns about the number of referrals or referral processes required the overnight cancellation of all surgeries and referrals.
Despite promises to resolve this matter quickly, the NWJCC have yet to begin their investigation while trans people have been left in limbo awaiting a decision. They now claim that they will need until the end of December – over three months from now – even just to review the cases of 60 patients who were due surgery between August and the end of the year.
Appointments to the independent clinical review panel have been made, and it is expected that work will begin on the 21st September. However this still means that trans patients will be left without access to the healthcare they need for many months, without proper justification.
This is not just an issue for Wales. It sets a dangerous precedent that trans healthcare can be withdrawn at any time, anywhere, and without justification. It must be challenged.
We’re asking our supporters across the UK to write to the Chief Commissioner of NHS Wales ahead of Tuesday, to demand that surgery is reinstated immediately while the investigation goes ahead, and to issue a formal apology for making such an irresponsible decision.
Alternatively, you can respond in Cymraeg here.