Campaigners lose High Court battle over wait times for transgender healthcare

Campaigners and two leading campaign groups have lost a high court battle against NHS England over waiting times for gender dysphoria treatment.

Four campaigners, along with Gendered Intelligence, a charity dedicated to increasing understandings of gender diversity and legal campaign group, The Good Law Project, brought a claim over the ‘extreme’ wait for a first appointment with a specialist.

The organisations complained that the NHS was failing to ensure that 92% of patients referred for non-urgent care were starting appropriate treatment within 18 weeks.

In a ruling, which occurred on Monday, Mr Justice Chamberlain dismissed the claim, finding the NHS has a duty to ‘make arrangements’ and that applies to patients as a whole.

Mr Chamberlain said: ‘Indeed, because the cohort is comprised of all patients referred to the services under NHS England’s responsibility, it would be possible for the standard to be met if no child or adult referred for gender identity services were treated within 18 weeks.’

The judge also said that ordering the organisation to ensure it meets the standard by a particular time ‘would impose a legal obligation on NHS England to divert resources from elsewhere.’

At a hearing at a London Court in November 2022, the High Court was told that from August over 20,000 adults were waiting for a first appointment at a gender dysphoria clinic, with 90% of them waiting longer than 18 weeks.

Following the ruling today, Gendered Intelligence have issued a statement which says the charity ‘has been clear from the start of this case that, while any legal outcome is important, of equal importance is raising awareness of the dire straits in which trans healthcare finds itself in the UK.

‘We understand that this judgement will be difficult for many people, particularly those trying to navigate horrendous and unjust waiting times themselves.

‘We too are disappointed, and we send solace and strength to everyone fighting an uphill battle just to access basic healthcare.’

The Good Law Project said it will seek to appeal over the ruling, calling the result ‘a deep disappointment.’

Photo by Nikolas Gannon