Calls for better transition support for Manchester's trans community
There are calls for more support for transgender people in Manchester who are medically transitioning.
Transgender people are having to travel for miles to transition, with no facilities in the North West at all.
Ashleigh Talbot from Fallowfield is transitioning at the moment.
She had to travel down to London for her appointments-as there are no facilities across the North- with the closest one being Leeds.
“It can be very, very taxing. Not just in emotional terms, but it takes time. It takes time out of your work and anything else you have going on in your life.
“It’s a very well-known thing in the trans community is that the waiting times in the NHS are extremely long. There are only 7 clinics.”
Lewis Turner is from an LGBT charity- they've started up a pop up clinic in Preston because of massive demand.
“People will think right OK I’ll go to my GP and get a referral, but then there’s a long waiting list and a lot of anxiety builds up.
“It does mean somebody won’t have to traipse all the way across the Pennines, they’ll see by someone locally in a non-clinical setting.”
A spokesperson from NHS England North said:
“Whilst there is no provider based in the North West, the Leeds and York Partnership NHSFT service does operate satellite clinics, for e.g., in Preston and Blackpool.
"Patients for the North West can be referred to this service by their GP and will then be seen as locally as possible, or to any of 7 Gender Identity Clinics across England."