WellBN, the Brighton-based NHS surgery, has officially launched its Trans Health Hub Outreach pathway, which allows the practice to partially register trans and non-binary (TNBI) patients so they can access Hormone Replacement Therapy through WellBN – while staying with their usual GP for all their other health needs.
In a newsletter, WellBN said: “Our books have been closed for a while to give us a bit of time to figure out what to do about the rising numbers of patients – we have over 33,000 at the moment, including about 1,500 trans patients). This was a difficult decision, as we are very aware of how difficult it is for TNBI patients to access HRT elsewhere. Many patients have been registering at WellBN specifically for this… with the drawback of joining a GP surgery which is very busy and may not be the most accessible from their address.”
According to WellBN, the Outreach Pathway can provide “prescription, monitoring and ongoing management of the HRT regime to patients that are registered at other GP surgeries”. The service at WellBN is open to patients who are looking to access HRT, and patients that are already on HRT but have issues accessing monitoring. Patients who are unsure about wanting to be on HRT and want to access a TNBI-specific holistic health review are also welcome to get in touch with the practice.
“People should be able to access TNBI health care through their own GPs.”
WellBN adds: “We don’t provide referrals to the GIC, fertility preservation or any other trans-related healthcare. However we can provide advice to other GPs to help with this.”
This service is free, and currently open for patients over 17 years old based in East and West Sussex, Hastings and area, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells, East Surrey, Crawley, Haywards Heath, and West Sussex. If you are out of area, you can still get in touch and WellBN might be able to provide advice and support.
WellBN stresses that patients do not need to be referred by their GP; they can self-refer directly by emailing sxicb-bh.transhealthhub@nhs.net. However, the practice does work collaboratively with GPs: blood tests are done at the patient’s GP surgery, while WellBN provides the blood form and interpret the results. If GPs want to take over the monitoring of their patient’s hormone levels and HRT regime at any point, WellBN is happy to provide support, resources and training for this. WellBN is hoping this will encourage GPs to get more involved, and generally “demystify HRT prescribing and monitoring”.
“We’re hoping that we are doing this in a way that is safe, caring, and respectful of patient autonomy.”
This scheme is also open to Sussex-based patients registered at WellBN who would like to switch to a GP that’s more local to them. If this is your case, get in touch with WellBN for a chat about it – they would be happy to continue to provide HRT once you are registered with your new GP.
WellBN go on to say: “During our big TNBI patient teams meeting in April, patients voiced worries about WellBN’s ability to continue providing trans healthcare. With the way that the NHS is currently structured, GPs claim funding for what we provide patients, and we have to cover our functioning costs. The Local Commissioning Service is currently offering generous funding to GPs for trans healthcare – which we are claiming by registering and monitoring outreach patients: The Outreach Pathway is in fact helping us to keep WellBN open!
“We’re very aware that we are able to get funds by exploiting a health inequality – and that people should be able to access TNBI health care through their own GPs. But we’re hoping that we are doing this in a way that is safe, caring, and respectful of patient autonomy. As always, if you think we are falling short, you are welcome to get in touch through the feedback form, by emailing sxicb-bh.transhealthhub@nhs.net, or by getting in touch with the Clare Project if you feel you need an intermediary.”
If you have any questions about the Outreach Pathways, have a look at this FAQ or email : wellbn.info@nhs.net
You must be logged in to post a comment.