I had my annual gender clinic appointment yesterday, and I asked about a referral I’ve been waiting two years for. Ah, the doctor told me. We made an appointment for you about that in May.

That’s the first I knew about it. I hadn’t received a text, letter or email, so of course I didn’t go. The next available appointment? The end of February 2023.

This is how trans people lose years of their lives on waiting lists.

Another trans woman I know emailed the same gender clinic after four years on the waiting list with no sign of a first appointment. We’re sorry, the reply said. When you registered with us, the wait time was 16 months. Now it’s 55 months. Our service does not fall into the same waiting list criteria as our services in the acute sector, and therefore we do not fall under the treatment time guarantee of 18 weeks.