New perspectives on healthcare provision for transgender youth

New perspectives on healthcare provision for transgender youth

Mermaids Seminar
Supported by Lloyds Banking Group

In the last decade public awareness of transgender issues has increased significantly. There have been TV programmes (Girl meets Boy, Transparent), films (The Danish Girl) and trans story lines have been included in popular soaps (Coronation Street, East Enders, Hollyoaks). It has been accompanied by a marked increase in balanced reporting in the media. This is a welcome step in the right direction but, like all social changes, acceptance and understanding by society including adequate healthcare provision takes time to catch up.

This important Seminar comes at a time when referrals of children and young people to specialist Gender Identity Clinics is increasing by over 100% each. Having only one major NHS provider in England & Wales for under 16 year olds raises the question of how will growing demand and increased professional and public awareness be dealt with? The emotional and mental health fallout experienced from young people from under-provision is significant and cumulative. We want this Seminar to be the start of an informed discussion of how we can work together to improve the provision of care to this vulnerable population quickly.

This Seminar will be of interest to general practitioners, professional health and care workers, MPs, lawyers and others interested in the treatment of transgender youth, plus families and young people involved in the current NHS provision, and their allies.

The speakers are highly experienced figures who are involved with different aspects of today’s subject. The aim of the event is not just to be a one-way flow of information but an opportunity for discussion and debate.

The keynote address will be by Dr Norman Spack, Paediatric Endocrinologist, Boston Children’s Hospital who started America’s first clinic to treat transgender children in 2007. Today there are over 60 clinics in North America and Dr Spack will talk about his experience of medical provision, including pubertal suppression and cross-hormone steroid treatment, the importance of involving funders, parents, the NHS and specialist charities like GIRES and Mermaids, and of recognising the risk of untreated transgender youth.

You will also hear from: Susie Green, CEO of Mermaids who will talk about the growth in demand for Mermaids services, her plans to grow and professionalise the charity to deal with that demand, plus her personal story of why she became involved; Dr. Helen Webberley, GP and Gender specialist who will talk about her innovative approach to treating young adults and the different care requirements for the under-16’s; Emma Cusdin, trans activist and trans woman who will talk about her transition and her ongoing activism and reflections on current service provision; a Mermaids parent of a teen who can demonstrate the impact that the current service provision has had on her child.

We look forward to welcoming you to “New perspectives on healthcare provision for transgender youth” and to your contribution to a lively discussion and debate about what the future should look like.