A Gender Identity Service for Wales

Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:45 pm on 27 June 2018.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 2:45, 27 June 2018

Yes. This is a real issue of concern to people across Wales, and I am deeply frustrated at the time that it has taken us to date. I would want to see a much swifter rate of progress for the future. Some of that has been about recruiting the right staff in the right place, but frankly, the frustrations, I feel, don't compare to people who have had their healthcare interrupted. That is the point of this. I am significantly unhappy that some people have had their current ways of accessing healthcare within Wales interrupted. There is absolutely no reason for any of the announcements that I have made to be used as a reason to make health services more difficult to access. The improvements that I expect in primary care are frankly no more than any of us expect for ourselves—to have normal primary healthcare needs provided within our local community.

We are reaching a point where we have an answer to provide that local healthcare need on a consistent basis. Nobody should stop treating patients at this point in time in the way they currently access care, and, indeed, the specialist care, we expect more of that to be delivered in Wales in the future, and the senior clinician in the Wales gender team should be able to help make progress on that already. So, I'm unhappy with our lack of progress. I continue to meet people from the transgender community and have correspondence from them and, indeed, our healthcare service will continue to meet with stakeholders and the most important people of course—transgender people themselves.