Laurel Bank Surgery is supportive of patients seeking or receiving care for gender related matters. We are happy to discuss these issues and make referrals within the NHS and advise on referrals in the private sector for assessment and treatment.
We will consider and enter into shared care agreements with UK-based clinics that are suitably verifiable in their registration and inspection and / or their use of verifiable and suitably registered clinicians who are also UK-based, for example CQC registered organisations and GMC registered doctors. These may be within the NHS or private sector.
We will issue medication following an initial assessment through an appropriate specialised gender service providing that there is suitable and clear instructions about the intended treatment and monitoring supplied. This is subject to the appropriate monitoring taking place.
Changes to existing prescriptions will only be made with the written advice and guidance of the relevant gender service.
Once established and stable on medication, should an individual be discharged from a gender clinic, Laurel Bank Surgery will continue to issue ongoing treatment with predetermined monitoring as advised for as long as is required. Any future changes to medication will be made after receiving the appropriate advice and guidance from a suitably trained specialist endocrinologist. This may be the original specialist used, or another provider may need to be sought.
Patients arriving in the UK from abroad, who have had assessment and treatment initiated outside the UK, will be referred to a UK-based service for review. We will provide bridging prescriptions pending an assessment in a UK clinic. However, if their treatment falls outside normal UK practice, advice will be sought from a trained endocrinologist before continuing medication.
Laurel Bank Surgery will not provide bridging prescriptions for patients who have initiated treatment themselves, or through non-NHS providers that are non-UK based / use unverifiable clinicians / or are unregulated. However, our hope is to maintain the safety of our patients; to this end, we will provide monitoring including blood tests, blood pressure and weights, but cannot provide any advice on dosing or preparations.
