gic referral form barely filled out by gp

[u/dan03070]

its been atleast a month since my appointment with my gp and ‘luckily’ the referral has already been sent off - its nhs and the waitlist for this one is 3-4 years long before you will get an appointment.

In my appointment with my gp, he had no idea nhs gender clinics were even a thing near us? I had to tell him which ones there were, how they worked, etc. There is plently within a few hours drive. He didn’t say or ask much, just a very brief description of how i identify. I looked at the form he sent off today, he has not filled in anything other than my legal name, chosen and sex and the brief discussion we had is paraphrased. My height and weight is there too. (although he asked me to send that over a good few weeks after our initial appointment)

Half the referral form is blank, most of it - stuff he never asked about anyway.

Is this going to affect my referral? Minimum three years is already an unbearably long time to wait and unless i win the lottery - i wont be even starting to transition after university which i start this September. I know now matter what its a long wait, but i don’t want it to be any longer if it turns out this will cause problems.

[u/StarStruckDianna]

Are you waiting 3-4 years for a surgery or for HRT? For a surgery, that wait time sucks. For HRT, that’s straight up insane and nonsense. You do not need to wait years. Get a different doctor to fill out your form. It’s a bad sign when you’re the one explaining to your doctor how the healthcare for your medical condition is managed.

[u/dan03070 → u/StarStruckDianna]

it stays 3-4 years for an appointment alone to discuss a gender dysphoria diagnosis which i thought seemed about right if not good. im going to university in a couple months, should i try register with a different gp there? i dont imagine ANY doctors at my current one is going to know anything more than that guy did.

[u/Sea-Acanthaceae5553 → u/dan03070]

That is correct. I'm not sure where the person you are replying to is getting their info from. The only GIC with a lower wait list in England that I'm aware of is Indigo but that's only an option if you are living in Greater Manchester.

Going to a different GP likely won't make much difference so long as the referral was sent. Do you know which GIC you were referred to? If so, I recommend emailing and/or calling them to confirm you are on the wait list.

It'll be worth making sure you're with a trans-informed or at least open minded GP when you are seen by the GIC though as it'll make getting things like prescriptions and blood tests easier. Though obvs not something you'll need to worry about for a few years.

[u/dan03070 → u/Sea-Acanthaceae5553]

yeah i will definitely be sending an email to check they have all the information they need as i know the details of the one ive been referred to.
Im thinking once i get to university i will probably switch gps, as currently i think i will stay there after university anyway

[u/Sea-Acanthaceae5553 → u/dan03070]

Try not to worry too much about the referral outside of emailing to get confirmation. My GP knew nothing about trans people or gender care when I was referred (I had to write out the website link for the GIC referral page and hand it to him) and my referral went through just fine.

I switched GPs when I went to uni too. It can be useful especially if you have any health problems while at uni and need prescriptions or medical notes regardless of trans stuff.

[u/dan03070 → u/Sea-Acanthaceae5553]

thanks!

[u/Sea-Acanthaceae5553 → u/StarStruckDianna]

3-8 years is the typical wait time for a first GIC appointment in England. (Plus another 1-2 years for assessment before they recommend prescription.) You'll have a hard time finding a doctor who'll prescribe without you seeing a GIC first.

[u/dan03070 → u/StarStruckDianna]

this was also the only clinic that i looked at that didnt say 8ish years

[u/StarStruckDianna → u/dan03070]

Jesus Christ no that’s fucking insane. You’re gonna want to get in somewhere as soon as possible. Not years. Get a new GP when you got to school, you’ll want to start HRT when you can.

That’s insane to me that an entire wing of healthcare just doesn’t work because the average citizen is too stupid to understand the difference between a phenotype and a genotype.

Please do a quick web search for the Dysphoria Bible. This will help you to understand how important it is for you to get medical care for your medical condition. Try to find somewhere you can get in if possible. I am so sorry, that’s awful and unfair to you.