Which services can I choose from?
Check out our list of UK gender services to see what’s available. Due to the long waiting times for NHS services, many people opt to be referred to both a private and NHS service.
How do I choose a service?
To ensure that you choose an appropriate service, it is important to find out:
Are you likely to be seen promptly by the service?
If they ask your GP for blood tests or to prescribe, will your GP agree?
Do they have fees or subscriptions and how do they compare to other services?
Will they regularly monitor your health if you are prescribed hormones?
Do past patients recommend the service? What are people saying online?
Will you get written confirmation you have been added to a waiting list?
Will they perform medically unnecessary examinations of your chest or genitals?
If they write a letter recommending you for surgery, will surgeons accept it?
Do they respond quickly to questions? How often will they check in with you?
A well-run service will be happy to help you with questions on these subjects. You may also find useful information on these subjects, and other people’s thoughts and experiences of services, by searching /r/transgenderuk for information.
What else is useful to know?
If you do not want to publicly change your gender presentation before starting hormones, you may want to check if the gender service is happy to prescribe hormones to you without evidence of public changes such as a deed poll name change.
If you would like your GP to agree to shared care with a private gender service, they may be more likely to do this if the gender service is staffed by clinicians who also work for NHS gender services. Private gender services will normally list which staff they employ, and you can search their names to find out whether they are also employed by the NHS.
If you want to get a Gender Recognition Certificate, you may want to check whether the service has staff who are qualified to provide the Medical Report A evidence for your GRC application.
How long are wait times?
You can find out about wait times for NHS and private gender services on our UK service wait times page.
How much do private services cost?
You can find out about fees and costs for private gender services on our Private Fees page.
Errors and omissions
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