‘Unacceptable’ waiting list of up to eight years for NHS gender care, reveals health secretary

Patients needing NHS gender care face a 42,000-long waiting list, with some waits as long as eight years, health secretary Wes Streeting has revealed.

Mr Streeting has vowed to address the “unacceptable” waits for tens of thousands of people needing access to NHS adult gender dysphoria services, The Independent can reveal.

At a speech for the NHS England LGBT+ Health Annual Conference in London on Monday, the health secretary will say: “Evidence shows trans people have higher rates of mental health conditions, including depression, when compared to the general population. Longer wait times only steepen this pain.

“Over 42,000 people are still waiting, often for years, for their first appointment at adult gender dysphoria clinics. That’s 42,000 people who are hurting, anxious, and exhausted.

“This breaks my heart...42,000 or more individuals should not be feeling invisible, misunderstood or unsupported.”

A national review of adult gender dysphoria clinics, led by Dr David Levy, is being carried out following concerns raised by Dr Hilary Cass, who led the Cass Review into gender services, about adult services.

The review is looking into how the services operate, areas of concern, and action being taken to improve services.

In a statement ahead of the pilot announcement, Mr Streeting said: “It is fundamentally wrong that so many LGBT+ people still face challenges when accessing healthcare – including barriers such as discrimination, misunderstanding, and miseducation…

“This pilot marks a major step – acknowledging the unacceptable waits endured by thousands of transgender patients and starting to tackle it head on.”

Read full story

Source: The Independent, 15 September 2025