FTM Pathway for Halton and St Helens PCT

I received another email from the Interim Chief Operating Officer of Halton CCG today. In his email, he listed the Female to Male (FtM) core surgical procedures. These are the surgeries that are recommended for support and funding by PCTs in the North West of England.

The recommendation of the North West Specialised Commissioning Team is that PCTs support and fund the following core surgical procedures for female to male (FtM) patients where an application has been made by the patient’s clinician:

 

·         Mastectomy

·         Hysterectomy

·         Vaginectomy

·         Salpingo-oophorectomy

·         Metoidoplasty or phalloplasty

·         Urethroplasty

·         Scrotoplasty and placement of testicular prostheses

 

The recommended non-core procedures are not routinely funded.  Requests for funding on an individual case basis can be made and these requests are considered for funding by a PCT in line with existing local

policies for plastic surgery/cosmetic procedures.  It must be stressed that this list is not exhaustive and any other procedure not listed would be considered as non-core procedure until further review.  The following

are non-core procedures:

 

·         Breast augmentation in trans women

·         Reduction Thyroid chondroplasty

·         Rhinoplasty / other facial bone reduction

·         Blepharoplasty

·         Face-lift

·         Hair removal/ electrolysis

·         Body contouring – e.g. suction-assisted lipoplasty of the waist

·         Voice modification surgery

·         Procedures to decrease areas of baldness

·         Storage of gametes

·         Skin resurfacing -  e.g. acid peel (a method of removing the upper layer of skin in order to improve skin smoothness)

 As you can see, mastectomies are considered to be a core surgical procedure for FtMs and PCTs are supposed to fund them.

He also attached a document which details the pathways for transgender people. You can find it after the jump, but be warned that it seems to be out of date in regards to the Gender Identity Clinics that are listed. The document lists Leeds Becklin Centre and Claybrook Centre in London. This is incorrect. The current GICs are located at Seacroft Hospital in Leeds and Charing Cross (CHX) in London.

I have emailed my contact asking for further clarification and will post another blog entry when I receive it.

An Open Letter to Business Owners

Edit: Please help me raise awareness regarding transgender discrimination by cross-posting this letter to your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or website. The more people who see it, the more people will realise that discrimination needs to stop. Thank you! Muir.


Dear local business owner,

You don't know me personally, but I came into your business the other day. I was hoping to get served and then go on my way to complete everything else on my "to-do" list, but something happened. You refused to serve me.

My appearance was like any other "typical" guy. My jeans were clean, my shirt ironed, my hair brushed, and I smelled of the latest popular brand masculine body spray. There was only one difference between me and every other guy who walks into your establishment - I am transgender.

You refused to serve me because I am not a "real man" and ordered me to go to another business that was not owned by you. I do not expect you to understand how angry, hurt, and upset that made me. I do however, expect you to know the law. After all, you are a business owner and are therefore expected to follow business laws set by the government.

Under the Equality Act of 2010, when a person walks into a business and they are presenting as (i.e. dressed as and professing to be) a certain gender they are to be treated as that gender irrespective of the gender they were assigned at birth and the gender you may think they are. This means, for example, if a person walks into a male only barbershop, is dressed like a male, and asks for their hair to be cut, then they are to be treated as a male and given the exact standard of treatment any other male would receive. To do anything less is a breach of equality law and is, to be blunt, discrimination.

All we want is to be treated the same way everyone else is treated and to be allowed to live our lives happily, without hate, without discrimination, and without having to fight to do something as simple as get a haircut.

So the next time I, or any other transgender person, enters your business, please do one thing for me. Smile at me and say, "Certainly, sir!" and give me the same standard of service you would give any other guy.

After all, that's exactly what I am - just another guy.

Sincerely,

Random Customer