Agenda item - Formal Member Involvement

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Agenda item

Formal Member Involvement

Minutes:

42a     Petitions

 

42.1    There were none.

           

42b     Written Questions

 

42.2    A question had been circulated by Councillor Nield. The text of which is set out below:

 

            “I have been contacted, as I think all Members have, by a resident who wants to know why as a transgender man he is having to wait years to access hormone treatment in Brighton and Hove. His mental health is suffering as he waits.

 

            He says:

 

            “Brighton is a beacon of hope for transgender people across the UK in terms of social acceptance, but this doesn’t appear to be reflected in the NHS services provided. We need hormone treatment provided in a reasonable timescale.”

 

            I am very interested to see this same issue raised in the Local Term Plan:

 

            4.2.6 local priorities: trans locally commissioned service in primary care. Responding to issues raised by our population there is a recognised gap and level of need in services for supporting our transgender population. An audit of local GP practices showed there were significant difficulties for transgender and non-binary patients such as long waits to receive prescribed hormone treatment. Brighton and Hove CCG are developing initial service costings and plans to initiate a three-year pilot service to fill this gap and improve the services for this population cohort. If we succeed, we would be proud to be the first CCG to do this in the country.”

 

“I would very much like to know more about these plans: particularly how soon we can expect this pilot to begin, and what will be its scale and scope.”

 

 

42.3    The Chair, Councillor Moonan, responded in the following terms:

 

            “Thank you for this question and for raising it on behalf of other members of this Board.

 

            I have a response from the CCG. I should highlight that this response does not go into the details of the individual concerned as that would not be appropriate although I have been assured that provision is arranged. Before I give the CCG response, it is worth noting that the board and also HOSC have been aware of waiting times for referral to specialist gender identity services at Charing Cross hospital are long. We are also aware that all GPs do not have the experience required to intervene in ways which would mitigate the negative impact of the long wait for a specialist referral (e.g., by prescribing hormones).

 

            The Council held a Trans Equalities Scrutiny Panel in 2015 and that Panel heard evidence and made recommendations on issues which do relate to the issues raised. Specifically, the Panel heard that there were long waits for referral to the Gender Identity Clinic at Charing Cross. The Panel did not make recommendations to improve the Gender Identity Clinic but did make recommendations for a much more robust assessment of local need (via a Trans Needs Assessment and other measures) so that the local NHS was in the best position possible to manage demand.

 

            The Panel also heard evidence about the issue of GP expertise in dealing with Trans health issues and made a number of recommendations, including a recommendation that the CCG explored the potential to pilot enhanced gender identity healthcare services at a central Brighton GP practice–i.e., so that local trans people had timely access to a more expert service than GPs can typically provide.

 

            In short, I think that the Council has shown an interest in precisely the issues raised by the complainant: (a) excessive waits for GIC; and (b) the need to develop a level of local specialism that might mitigate (a). However, despite the Council making recommendations to the CCG in 2015 -and the CCG agreeing to implement the recommendations – the problems have continued.

 

            The CCG has made a formal response:

            Currently there are a range of support initiatives in place. There is also a guide for GPs/General practice available on the CCG website:

 

https://www.gpbrightonandhoveccg.nhs.uk/supporting patients -accessing-gender-identity-services;

 

            https://www.brightonandhoveccg.nhs.uk/gp-guide-supporting-trans-patients-launched

 

            Also, a screening document for trans people has been produced because when a person’s record is changed to reflect their identity, they will not automatically be called for screening programmes, i.e., someone who is female to male will not be called for cervical or breast screening even if they still have cervical or breast tissue

 

            https://www.brightonandhoveccg.nhs.uk/your-health/screening

 

            There is a pilot in development that is in the scoping stages which will mean that there will be a local satellite service available in the city. This work is underway and the CCG will update the Board about progress with this shortly.

 

42.6    RESOLVED – That the content of the submitted question and the Chair’s response be noted and received.

 

42c     Letters

 

42.7    There were none.

 

42d     Notices of Motion

 

42.8    There were none.

Supporting documents:

 


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