bureaucracy issues

[emnarch]

Hi
Some of you may remember me. I used to post as em*rock on the old forum, and in fact the one before that.
I've been on hormones since 2007, and have been full time for about 4-5 years (my memory fails me).

Anyway, my original plan was to seek surgery privately. I also lost patience with waiting for an NHS referal and went to Dr Curis for my hormones etc. A couple of years ago however I realised the stupidy of thinking I could ever afford to pay for SRS, and deided to pursue the NHS again.

Therefore after moving house in sept I decided to get a referal trough my GP. This lead to the local 'gender clinic' where in january I met the phyciatrist there. Anyway cut a long story short (for further details pm me) he got the wrong end of the stick and thought I wasn't in any hurry for SRS. I sent him a letter telling him this was not the case, but that was 2 months ago, and despite calling and calling I haven't been able to get in touch with him.

Frankly this is all a bit much, and I'm getting depressed at the thought that nothing is happening. Especially with the feeling of impending doom I feeling with a Tory government. So any advice? How can I actually get in touch with this guy? And is there anyway I can make it clear I need to be high priority for SRS?

Thanks
Emma

[Millie]

Hi Emma,

I am much earlier in my transition than you but have just tried to get on the NHS treadmill for SRS as I am about to commence hormones (from Dr Curtis), my doctor was not at all hopefull and suggested that if there was any way to stay in private care, this would be by far the best option, as she is not at all confident that the funding is there at the moment I hope that there are people who can give you some advice about the best way to go about things but it does seem to me that we are being pushed down the priority list due to increased demand and less funding.

Good luck Millie xxx

[Ice Maiden]

well from what i can gather the Health Care system is safe from spending cuts thats the only dept thats is not going to suffer - so they say ;)P

it takes time to get things moving in the NHS and 8 months wait is not unheard of

Your gatekeeper is your GP and PCT - they fund it so i suggest you write to them and find out what is going on

[emnarch]

The problem is that I don't think I've even been refered to Charing X. And was advised by the local specialist to keep in touch with him.

[thedreadpersephone]

Hi Emma, always nice to see an old face coming back

Was it your GP that referred you to this local psychiatrist in the first place? Might be worth going back to the GP and explaining that you are having trouble getting in touch with the specialist. Maybe the GP might have more luck sending a letter or making a phone call?