The adult gender service works with people aged 18 and over who are seeking support for issues related to their gender identity.
The service offers holistic care in relation to the psychological, social and biological/medical aspects of gender.
This page is for the adults service. If you are under 18, visit the young person gender service page.
Non-urgent advice: Adult gender service – waiting list validation
Increased demand for the Adult Gender Service has led to longer waiting times than we would like. We recognise this is difficult and apologise to those affected.
From Monday 20 April 2026, we are carrying out an administrative validation exercise to ensure waiting list details are accurate and up to date.
Everyone currently on the waiting list will receive a text message, letter or email with a short questionnaire asking whether they wish to remain or be removed from the waiting list.
Please respond within 14 days of receiving the text. Reminder messages will be sent, and we will attempt to contact you multiple times before any changes are made.
Please wait to be contacted about the validation exercise. If you haven’t heard from us by 20th July, please get in touch.
Full information, including FAQs, can be found here
On this page you will find information on:
What to expect from our service
Additional support from trusted organisations
The latest updates on Gender Care in Scotland right now
Non-urgent advice: Waiting list information
December 2018
Last updated July 2026
• We can’t provide individual updates on your position on the waiting list. Please keep a note of your referral date and continue to check the above information which is updated regularly.
• If any of your details have changed since your referral, or if you no longer wish to access the service, please let us know so we can update our records.
Who this service is for
Our service aims to support people with their gender identity.
Some people experience distress or discomfort when their gender identity does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth. This can affect different parts of life, including emotions, relationships, and wellbeing.
Some people explore different ways to feel more comfortable in their gender identity – such as changing their name, appearance, or seeking medical support – but every journey is personal.
The areas we cover
This service is open to people living in:
- Greater Glasgow & Clyde
- Argyll and Bute
- Ayrshire & Arran
- Forth Valley
- Lanarkshire
- Tayside
- Western Isles
- Dumfries and Galloway
How to get a referral
To access the adult gender service you will need a referral from a GP or Adult Mental Health Service.
Please make an appointment with your GP or discuss with your mental health service in the first instance. They will then give you an initial assessment to see if our service is a good fit for you.
The information below explains more about this process.
If you’re unsure who to contact you can check the NHS inform service directory.
Preparing for a referral appointment with your GP or Mental Health Team
Calling to make an appointment with your GP or Mental Health Team
When contacting a GP practice or mental health team to make an appointment, the receptionist will likely ask for a brief description of what you would like to discuss. This is so that they direct you to the best provider for your care.
At your GP or Mental Health Team appointment
Before a clinician can refer you, they’re likely to ask you about:
- Your day-to-day experiences of gender and gender identity, including any feeling of discomfort, distress or unease experienced related to the mismatch of feelings between your biological sex and your gender identity
- Any steps you have taken toward transition, including changing names, pronouns, and social presentation
- Medical and mental health history, including whether you have been diagnosed as having a neurodivergent condition (e.g. Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, etc.)
- Your current level of wellbeing
Based on these questions, the clinician will work with you to decide whether you would benefit from a referral to the gender service.
It may be that the clinician suggests other types of support (i.e. mental health services, neurodivergence assessment) are appropriate either alongside or before a referral to the gender service.
How to prepare for your GP or Mental Health Team appointment
It can be useful to prepare for an appointment beforehand by:
- Writing out answers to the questions above to share with the clinician
- Seeking social support from trusted people, including family, friends and support workers. You can also ask someone to accompany you to the appointment if this is what you prefer.
- Preparing for the different possible outcomes from the appointment, including the possibility that a referral cannot be made immediately.
Doc Ready is an online tool that can be used to make a checklist of issues to raise with the clinician. They also explain more about the process of approaching a GP/your mental health team and people’s rights.
LGBT Youth Scotland’s “Trans and Non-binary Coming Out Guide” may be useful for reflecting on experiences of gender. LGBT Youth Scotland’s Live Chat service is also open to young people aged 13-25 who want to talk to a youth worker about gender and transition. LGBT Health and Wellbeing provide a help line for all ages.
GP / Mental Health clinician knowledge and understanding
Healthcare professionals may have differing levels of knowledge and understanding about gender and transition.
Everyone has the right to be treated with consideration, dignity and respect when accessing and using NHS services.
This means that even if a clinician isn’t knowledgeable about gender and transition, they should take your thoughts, feelings and needs into consideration, and support you toward the best choice for treatment.
If a healthcare professional is unsure about the referral process, they can be directed to this page for more information.
What to do if your clinician doesn’t make a referral
Deciding whether a referral to the Gender Service would be beneficial should be a shared decision between you and your clinician. Clinicians should be knowledgeable of what care options are available and what role these might play in providing support.
It is very unlikely that a GP will not make a referral to the Adult Gender Service.
If you are unhappy with the outcome of a decision or how a referral request has been handled by a clinician, you can:
- direct your clinician to consult this page or contact the Gender Service’s
- ask the service/GP practice to allocate you another clinician
- make a complaint to the service/GP practice
- seek support from an advocacy service such as The Advocacy Project, or the Patient Advice and Support Service Scotland who provide health-based rights support independent of the NHS
Healthcare rights are outlined in NHS Scotland’s Charter of patient rights and responsibilities.
Knowing if your referral has been accepted
If it has been over 6 weeks since you have agreed to the referral with your clinician, you can request confirmation of the referral via the email address below:
ggc.adultgender.sandyford@nhs.scot
Responses may take up to two weeks.
If it’s confirmed that a referral hasn’t been received/accepted, then you should please contact your referring clinician.
How our waiting list works
The waiting lists for the Adult’s Gender Service and Young Person’s Gender Service are separate lists.
Young people are automatically moved onto their local adult gender service waiting list as they approach their 18th birthday. Currently, young people join the adult service waiting list based on the date they were referred (e.g. if someone was referred to the Young Person’s Gender Service in September 2020, they will join the adult waiting list amongst the adults who were referred in September 2020).
The current wait time for appointments for both the adult and young person’s service is several years. We acknowledge that this can be extremely difficult for those trying to access services, and the gender service is working closely with community organisations to provide support in the interim.
What happens if you move
Contact us
It’s important that you contact us if you move address. See details on doing this at the bottom of this page.
What this means for your place on the waiting list
If you are on our waiting list and move to a health board area in Scotland that we don’t cover, you will be transferred to the waiting list of the Gender Service that health board provides.
The date you were originally referred will determine where you are placed on the waiting list you move onto.
This can mean the actual wait time for your first appointment could change depending on how many people are on the waiting list of the service you are transferred to.
If you move outside of Scotland, there is no guarantee that gender services in other parts of the UK will keep to your original referral date with us, and you may be considered a brand new referral and placed at the bottom of their waiting list. It is advised to check this with local services if planning to move away from Scotland.
What to expect from our service
Once you have reached the top of our waiting list you will be offered your first appointment at our service.
We will try our best to accommodate your schedule/availability, but as demand for this service is high, flexibility may be limited.
Wait times are long. See the next section for support while you wait.
Who you’ll meet
All our staff are experienced in gender healthcare. There are different types of professionals who work to support different aspects of someone’s gender identity.
Currently, the team includes:
- Clinical Psychologists
- Consultant Psychiatrists
- Doctors
- An Occupational Therapist
- A Pharmacist
- Admin staff
At your first appointment at the Adult Gender Service
Your first appointment will be carried out by a clinical psychologist or a psychiatrist.
They will discuss with you many topics that may have already been covered when asking for a referral from your GP/mental health clinician. Some people can find this difficult, but it is important to be honest and give the most accurate information possible. This means we can give you the best care.
We are likely to discuss:
- Current circumstances
- Current and past experiences of gender and transition
- Physical and mental health (both current and past), including neurodivergence
- Family health history
- What support is being sought from the Gender Service
How to prepare
Preparing for your first appointment can help decrease any anxiety felt around meeting the Gender Service and help you get the most out of your appointment.
It may be helpful to consider:
- What your long term goals are with regards to gender/transition
- Any questions you may have about the service, our processes or the types of support being sought
- Any anxieties or concerns about transitioning or engaging with the gender service
- Any accessibility or additional support needs (see next section)
Bringing someone with you
You can bring someone with you to your appointment if you like. You don’t need to notify us ahead of this. Although please read our policy on attending with children below.
Your appointment space
All of our rooms are private to ensure confidentiality.
The care we can offer
You’ll be offered an assessment appointment. After your assessment you may have further wait for the next stage in your care.
This could include:
- Referrals to speech and language therapy
- Referrals to endocrinology for masculinising and feminising hormones
- Referrals for surgery
- Counselling is no longer available within the Gender Service, but referrals can be made to other services.
Getting here and building access
Location
The Gender Service is based at 93 Candleriggs, Merchant City, in a bright, modern space on the top floor. There is lift access. Sandyford signage on the front and throughout the building will guide you to the right place. For full directions and details, visit our Locations page.
Arrival
When you arrive, you’ll be welcomed by friendly staff at the reception desk.
Waiting area and facilities
You’ll be asked to sit in a quiet waiting area where gender-neutral toilets and water fountains are available.
Attending with children policy
If possible, please avoid bringing children to your appointment unless someone can stay with them in the waiting area. Consultations may involve sensitive questions and could take place in a medical setting not suitable for unsupervised children. If we’re unable to carry out your appointment safely, we won’t be able to proceed. Thank you for your understanding.
Accessibility and additional support needs
The service is inclusive for patients who have a disability, neurodivergence or mental health condition that they require additional support for.
When you’re offered an appointment at the Gender Service, please email to let us know:
- Do you have any general access needs? This might include physical access needs (e.g. a lift), environmental access needs (e.g. low sensory stimulation environment), an interpreter (e.g. BSL or foreign language), etc.
- What have your previous experiences of appointments been like? What did the clinician do that was helpful, or unhelpful?
- How do you communicate best with professionals? What would you like your clinician to know about how you communicate?
- How will you manage stress/anxiety in your appointment?
You can email ggc.adultgender.sandyford@nhs.scot or call 0141 211 8693 if you prefer.
Support from other organisations
The gender service works with other organisations to offer community support to those on our waiting list.
Some people approach the gender service looking for understanding and ongoing support, and some of our community partner organisations are best placed to offer this.
Their services will be useful to those looking for:
- Community, and to meet other people with similar experiences of gender and transition
- Ongoing support and understanding with gender, transition, and wellbeing
- A safe, positive space to explore individual needs and goals
Find a guide to these below:
Contact us
- Due to service constraints we can only answer queries from patients already on our waiting lists or in active treatment with us.
- Please be aware that it may take up to 2 months to receive a response from the service.
- We cannot share an individual’s specific position in the waiting list – please refer to the waiting list times at the top of this page.
We understand that waiting for care can be difficult, and we want to thank you for your patience. And remember, support from other organisations is available while you wait.
Our teams are working hard to improve access and ensure everyone receives the support they need as soon as possible.
To update your details
Please get in touch if you have:
- Changed your name by deed poll
- Updated your CHI number, email address or phone number
- Changed GP (even if just for term time for students)
- Have moved address
We operate on a separate system from GPs and other NHS services and so these do not automatically update.
Email updates to: ggc.adultgender.sandyford@nhs.scot
If you are unable to access emails, update your details by phone 0141 211 8693 or write to Gender Service, 4th Floor, 93 Candleriggs, Merchant City, Glasgow, G1 1NP.
To reschedule your appointment
If you cannot make your appointment, please contact the service as soon as possible to rearrange: 0141 211 8693
Under the NHS Patient Access Policy, two reasonable offers of appointments will be made before it will be presumed that the person is no longer in need of the Gender Service, and their referral discharged.
Gender Recognition Certificates
Due to high demand we are experiencing significant wait times to respond to Gender Recognition Certificates (GRC) information requests.
Please consult: Apply for a Gender Recognition Certificate: Overview – GOV.UK
The latest updates on Gender Care in Scotland right now
We are aware that some people are accessing hormone treatments through online and private providers. It is acknowledged that the long waiting times and assessment processes associated with the Gender Service can make this feel like the only option.
The NHS does not recommend the use of private providers for Gender care. If you have been considering private hormone treatments, it’s important to know that not all private providers will undertake a full assessment to ensure that hormones are a safe, suitable option. NHS Gender Services won’t accept any private assessments you have if you go on to use our service. If you have already been receiving private Gender care, you will still have to have a full assessment undertaken when you first use NHS services.
There are also risks to be aware of in accessing hormones privately:
- You might not get clear or reliable information to help make fully informed choices about hormones.
- Your options for necessary follow-up care, like regular blood tests or support with side effects or mental health, may be limited.
- If medications are ordered from overseas, it can be hard to know if they’re safe or real.
- Private care can be very expensive, and ongoing costs can add up quickly.
NHS providers are limited in the support they can offer to someone accessing hormones privately. NHS prescriptions for hormones are not available to people coming from private providers, and blood tests may not be provided by GPs. However, anyone accessing hormones privately, should still discuss this with your GP or mental health clinician, particularly if you are receiving treatment for other conditions.
Further support
The resources below may be useful: