The official maximum waiting time for non-urgent, consultant-led medical treatments in the UK is 18 weeks. 

So why are adults referred by their GP to a Gender Identity Clinic currently expected to wait up to 260 weeks (5 years) for an initial assessment, 6-7 years for a formal diagnosis and hormone treatment, and a decade or more for gender confirmation surgery?

Writer and editor Dr Ash Brockwell is compiling a new anthology entitled The Wait Is Killing Us: British Trans and Non-Binary People Demand Healthcare Justice – due to be published in November 2023 – and we’d love to include your story, poem or song. 

We want to know how the wait for healthcare has affected your physical and mental health, what impact it’s had on your relationships, and what changes you’d like to see in the healthcare system to address the waiting list crisis.

We’re particularly keen to hear from Black, Brown and Indigenous writers (and other people with lived experience of racism), neurodiverse folks, and those with disabilities.

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