GPs will be able to prescribe cross-sex hormones to patients who diagnose themselves as transgender in Scotland under new NHS rules. The Telegraph has the story.
Under guidelines published on Tuesday, it is stated that testosterone or oestrogen prescriptions are to be given out to adults “primarily based on someone’s self-report” despite an admission that there is “no guarantee” they will help patients.
Previously, access to a specialist gender clinic was usually required to access hormone treatments on the Scottish NHS.
However, the new rules open the door to GPs being able to prescribe the drugs after taking account of guidance or taking specialist advice.
NHS Education for Scotland, which issued the guidance, confirmed that going forward the ability to approve hormones would be based on “knowledge and skills” rather than job title, with primary care practitioners listed as among those “able to prescribe”.
The drugs can help transgender people feel more comfortable with their bodies by altering physical characteristics, for example by causing biological males to develop breasts or biological females to grow facial hair.
However, there is uncertainty about their risks, with long-term use potentially causing infertility and other side effects including multiple blood conditions, weight gain and gallstones.
A consultant psychiatrist with more than two decades of experience in gender dysphoria described the guidelines as “absolutely ridiculous” and said that prescribing life-altering hormone treatments based mainly on a “self-report”, rather than an in-depth specialist assessment, was dangerous.
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