The funding will be allocated to the Belfast Trust in the coming weeks
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt(Image: Brian Lawless/PA Wire)
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has said that he is committed to improving gender identity service provision for children, young people and adults in Northern Ireland.
The Minister was speaking as he confirmed that £806,000 will be allocated to the Belfast Trust in the coming weeks to support the Gender Identity Service.
The Brackenburn Clinic, Northern Ireland’s adult Gender Identity Clinic, has been functioning with severely restricted capacity for the past seven years owing to staffing shortages and financial limitations.
In 2019, then-Minister Robin Swann established the Gender Identity Service Pathway Review Group to tackle the rapidly growing waiting lists.
In a statement issued to Belfast Live, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said: “I am committed to improving wider gender identity service provision for children, young people and adults in Northern Ireland.
“Since 2019, my officials have worked closely and collaboratively with the Belfast HSC Trust, the Gender Identity Review Group and Gender Identity Liaison Group to develop a business case for the expansion of the Gender identity Lifespan service.
“This will increase capacity within the service to allow the Trust to address waiting times and ensure that patients receive the appropriate care they need in a timely way.
“The funding investment will also provide much needed additional medical and nursing resources into the service.”
More than 1000 patients are currently on the list, with some having waited over seven and a half years for an initial appointment.
For children regardless of trust of origin, referrals can be made by GPs or via the CAMHS team pathway. Each of the Trust CAMHS teams provides ongoing support to its patients during their journey.
On Monday, Alexa Moore, Policy Campaigns and Communications Manager at The Rainbow Project and Co-Chair of the Gender Identity Service Review’s ‘Service User Input Panel’, welcomed the funding, saying: “We welcome that, amidst a sea of difficult news, trans people here will once again have hope that they may access the basic care which can help them live their lives as themselves.
“The collapse of this service around 2018 has caused untold harm within our community and has resulted in a generation of trans young people who have had little to no access to healthcare they haven’t funded themselves. While there is significant work to be done to ensure this new service is fit-for-purpose, meets the needs of trans communities, and follows international best practice, this news will offer hope to those who have been waiting years for care.”
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