The massive strain on health services as privatisation and cuts leave millions struggling to access the care and support they need was a factor in the rejection of the main establishment parties in the May Senedd elections. This is also the context in which the Welsh Gender Service (WGS), the sole gender clinic in Wales, halted referrals for gender surgery on 29 August, pending a review. The Welsh Gender Service provides referrals for adults living in Wales, but all NHS surgeries are carried out in England.
The announcement of the pause and the review follow a call by the Tory health representative in the Senedd, Natasha Asghar. The Tories have a record of attempting to whip up anti-trans hate and not of concern for health services. Under a Tory UK government, spending on non-NHS providers increased 70% in the decade after 2012-13 – from £10.8 billion to £18.3 billion, adjusting for inflation. Almost one in four people in Wales are waiting for NHS treatment.
A protest organised by the Trans Liberation Coalition in Cardiff on 31 August drew around 300 people. Over 17,000 people have signed a petition calling for the service to be unfrozen. The Senedd Petitions Committee “considers all petitions that get more than 10,000 signatures for a debate”. That Senedd is now led by Plaid Cymru, which had a speaker on the demo.
Demand funding and services
Socialist Party Wales calls for the Welsh Government to intervene to instruct the NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee to immediately resume referrals for gender affirmation surgery for trans people in Wales. We demand the provision of publicly funded gender identity clinics in every area and an end to austerity and cuts in public services – fully fund the Welsh NHS. We point to the need to build fighting trade unions to defend all jobs and fight discrimination in the workplace and an alternative to capitalist politicians who attempt to divide us, a new mass workers’ party
This review isn’t due to fully conclude until 2027. But the consequences for Welsh transgender people were immediate. With no warning, surgical referrals from Wales were unable to be accepted at clinics, impacting over 800 people. People already in the surgery theatre had their surgeries cancelled. Patients affected are left in limbo, unable to proceed with the surgeries they’ve been approved for after years of waiting!
The report findings should be interrogated in order to provide the best services for Welsh patients. But the reality is that transgender healthcare is anything but quick and easy to access. The average wait for a first appointment with a gender clinic is nine years, with similar wait times for any follow-up appointments. Surgical referrals are made after one to three follow-up appointments. The WGS currently has a nearly 2.5-year wait between appointments, actually among the shortest wait times across the UK! The WGS also sees large numbers of patients, a factor in the numbers of referrals.
Instead of investing into NHS care for everyone, what we see are cuts and privatisation, however they are presented. The real solution to the NHS funding crisis is democratic workers’ control of society to meet everyone’s needs. By taking the vast wealth held by the uber-wealthy out of their hands, we could use it to provide the services we all need – including a health service fit for purpose.
A trans Socialist Party Wales member
