2023 is definitely a year of change
I spent a large part of 2022 getting my referral to a Gender Identity Clinic under way, ten years later than originally planned (and a full decade after being authorised!) However, I didn’t feel that my GP was working with me.
Scroll forward into 2023 and I hadn’t had a full response to the last GP letter, when I had asked explicitly for HRT and for a small surgical procedure. I wrote again and enclosed a Deed Poll to change my name. The GP’s staff contacted me and asked me to complete one of their ‘Change of Details’ form and that resulted in a phone call asking if I wanted to change the gender marker as well. So far so good, and I started to distribute the Deed Poll to a wider audience.
I then asked for an appointment with my GP but this was done as a phone call. I now put the unanswered questions to her: the responses were less than encouraging, however I did thank her for calling me – it doesn’t help to get angry!
The GP office called a few days later and told me that the NHS had issued me with a new NHS number because of the gender change. That, of course, has caused a few minor issues that were resolved with humour.
My next step was to formally complain about my GP’s intransigence (amongst other traits). That complaint runs to 3 pages with 10 annexes and is now with NHS England – I have had an acknowledgement. Whether this gets me the desired HRT etc remains to be seen.
My journey is definitely under way.