In response to the ongoing pressures on NHS services caused by COVID-19 temporary changes to sexual health services are required until further notice.
If you have any questions please email either the young peoples gender team or the adult gender team who will endeavour to reply to you as soon as they can.
We know that this is a stressful time for everyone. There is a great deal of uncertainty just now and the NHS is under considerable pressure. We greatly appreciate your patience and understanding whilst we get through this difficult period. We want to assure you that if your appointment has been cancelled you will be offered an appointment as soon as we are able to.
Service changes may delay treatment monitoring, and closure of GP surgeries may affect access to prescriptions and injectable medications (see advice in the orange box "Advice on Hormone Treatment"). Contact the gender service if you're having difficulty obtaining your usual hormone medication from your GP. If you can't get through to the gender service and need to speak to someone urgently call Sandyford on 0141 211 8130.
We know that current events combined with the service suspension may place a strain on your mental health. You can find self-help materials for a number of mental health difficulties on the NHS Inform website. If you are under the care of a mental health team and are experiencing heightened levels of distress for which some additional help would be of benefit then please contact your team.
There are a number of mental health charities who can offer telephone based support. Details of these can be found below. If your emotional or mental well-being is adversely affected by these specific temporary service changes, and it would be helpful to access some telephone support, please call Sandyford Counselling and Support Service on 0141 211 6700 (Mon - Fri 9.30am to 4.00pm).
Continue on the same treatment and dose if possible. Patients on testosterone injections can be switched to a gel which is applied to the skin daily. Switching from 3 weekly to a 12 weekly form of testosterone injection (Nebido) is an alternative option.
Stopping GnRH injections or other testosterone blockers temporarily will not cause any harm. When restarting GnRH injections you may notice a brief surge in testosterone levels.
There is no need to stockpile medications. Alternative brands are usually available if there are supply problems. Information for prescribers can be found on the National Gender Identity Clinical Network site.
If your hormone therapy and / or blockers are managed by Paediatric Endocrinology then please contact these services if you have any concerns about access to your next injection or prescription.
The service primarily assists people who are transgender to facilitate medical and surgical treatments, enabling greater comfort in the face of gender non-conformity. However, the service is also available to any person who feels uncomfortable or uncertain about their gender identity whether they wish to change their gender or not.
Contacting the Gender Service
All initial enquiries or issues should be raised via email to our adult gender team or young people gender team and a member of the team will get back to you shortly. Please provide us with your full name (or name you have registered with at the service) along with your date of birth and address. This will help us to deal with your enquiry more efficiently. The phone lines are open from 8:30am - 11:30am Monday - Friday. Please call 0141 211 8137 during this time if you are unable to attend your appointment or for any other urgent matters. Alternatively please email the service with the subject line "Unable to Attend". If you do not inform us that you are not able to attend, you risk being removed from the list as there are many patients waiting for appointments.
Mental Health Support
We understand that some people waiting for our service may be struggling with their mental health. If you think you are at risk of seriously harming yourself, please speak to your GP who can help you get the right sort of support.
For more support you can contact Samaritans by phoning 116 123 any time of day, any day of the year, or online.
Breathing Space is another great resource that offers free, confidential phone services for anyone in Scotland experiencing low mood, depression or anxiety. You can phone on 0800 83 85 87 from 6pm-2am on weekdays, or 24 hours at the weekends.
For young people, Childline offers support via the phone on 0800 1111 or online.
Gender and sex are two terms that people often get confused about. Gender is nothing to do with our sexual or reproductive organs but instead, is the feeling that we belong to a particular sex.
Information on Travel Expenses for Surgery
Patients are entitled to funded travel to and from services related to their treatment outwith the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area.
Once you have received your appointment letter from the surgical team (for either pre-surgery assessments or surgical procedure) you can contact Sandyford on our generic email address and we will book your transport for you. Please contact to confirm details 3 weeks before your surgery and we will book your transport 2 weeks before your surgery. These timescales are necessary in case there are any changes to your appointment time or date.
It is not our protocol, but if you do need to book your own transport due to special circumstances, then we can reimburse the cost of travel (please note: this must be the cheapest, most appropriate form of transport and not usually taxi transfer unless the consultant writes that this is necessary). We will reimburse the cost of mileage in accordance with NHS standards.
All receipts must be produced and we can accept all paperwork via email. Please note that it can take up to six weeks from the time of processing to receive a cheque in the mail for reimbursements.
