Westbourne Medical Centre are raising their profile as an LGBTIQ+ friendly practice, committed to ensuring that all their patients feel confident using their services, supported, and listened to.

LGBTIQ+ is an abbreviation often used to cover the different ways people might define their sexual orientation or gender identity, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex and more.

The term gender dysphoria describes a sense of unease that a person may have because of a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity. “We want to approach our patients openly, respectfully, and sensitively with an awareness and understanding” said Dr Tom Linton (He/Him) at Westbourne Medical Centre.

“We know that the experience of some people that have gender incongruence is that their needs are ignored or not taken into account when they access healthcare services. Some people avoid treatment or advice altogether for fear of discrimination or intolerant reactions.

“This is disappointing, and our aim is for everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or sex characteristics, to be able to live safe, happy, and healthy lives where they can be themselves without fear of discrimination.

“We want to help people stay healthy and well, and a part of this is making sure that people who have changed their gender marker on their records, still have the organ specific screening that they might need.”

Using the website, social media and through face-to-face interactions, the practice have been providing information to patients about how to change their gender marker, name and pronouns documented on their NHS medical record.

One key message that they want patients to be aware of is that those people who have changed their gender marker on their medical records may not be recalled for the correct screening depending on their organs.

For example, trans men and non-binary people assigned female at birth who are registered with a GP as male:

  • are not routinely invited for cervical screening but can request screening
  • are not routinely invited for breast screening but can request screening
  • are invited for bowel cancer screening
  • are invited for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) screening but do not have a high risk of AAA
  • Trans men who are pregnant should be offered the same antenatal and newborn screening tests as all other pregnant individuals

More information can be found here- NHS population screening: information for trans and non-binary people – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Hormone therapy (oestrogen or testosterone) is another key topic the staff at Westbourne want to make people aware of.

“Buying any medication online comes with a risk, and we wouldn’t want this for our patients,” explains Dr Holly Foster (She/Her) at Westbourne.

“We are aware of the waiting times for the NHS Gender Identity Clinics, but it is important to advise patients that if they are purchasing hormone therapy privately or abroad, it may impact their fertility.

“Patients often don’t realise that over time, taking this medication can lead to a complete loss of fertility.  In some cases, people who stop taking their hormone therapy will have their fertility restored, although this is by no means guaranteed. Generally, the longer you are having hormone therapy the more your fertility is likely to be permanently affected.

“If you think you would like biological children at some point and you haven’t started medical treatment or had surgery, you may wish to preserve your fertility by having your sperm, eggs or embryos frozen and stored for later use in fertility treatment.”

Staff at Westbourne are having ongoing training to be sensitive and supportive to the needs to the LGBTIQ+ community. People with gender dysphoria, and those questioning their sexual orientation, may have a range of feelings and may find that it is affecting their mental wellbeing.

If you have any questions, please contact Westbourne’s Quality Improvement Manager- Tyne (She/Her): qi.team@nhs.net

Westbourne Medical Centre has a dedicated webpage with links to local charities and other useful websites that can offer advice and support: LGBTIQ+ | Westbourne Medical Centre