James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, has spoken previously on the topic of gender healthcare. He has acknowledged that this is a small and vulnerable group of people who need to have access to proper, appropriate and integrated care, including acute care and community care. He has also acknowledged that they do not currently have access to that in Ireland and has stated that he is determined to change that.

In that context, the Minister would like to confirm that the HSE has recently appointed Dr. Karl Neff as clinical lead for the multidisciplinary team that will lead the development of a new model of care under the auspices of the national clinical programmes. The Minister was delighted to be able to provide €100,000 in funding for the establishment of this team. Now that this appointment has been made, the HSE is initiating a new clinical programme for gender healthcare and, over the next two years, an updated clinical model and implementation plan for gender healthcare services will be developed. This work will be informed by the best evidence-based clinical care for individuals who express gender incongruence or dysphoria. Now that the full Cass report has been published, it will be reviewed along with other emerging and evolving international evidence, as part of this work.

There is a clear and well-established approach to the development of this model of care, which, as well as reviewing the best available clinical evidence, will also incorporate input from healthcare professionals, patient advocates and those with lived experience. This is a message that I really want to get across - a key part of the development of this model of care will be consultation with stakeholders. As the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, said previously, we cannot have a situation where we are developing a model of care for a group of people who are not involved and whose voices are not heard. He can assure the Deputy that the HSE is anxious to ensure that all stakeholders are heard as part of this process.

The model of care will incorporate a multitiered approach, where care will be delivered at the most appropriate level of medical complexity. While the model of care is being developed, people will continue to receive healthcare in the community and under the endocrinology service in the adult and paediatric centres in Ireland East Hospital Group and Children’s Health Ireland, CHI. In terms of current services, children and young people who require specialist psychological or psychiatric assessment and support are now referred to the children and young people gender national referral support service in the UK, which will triage those referrals to one of the newly developed services in London and Liverpool-Manchester. This service will work with CHI if endocrine review is required. The adult gender service is based in St Columcille’s Hospital, Loughlinstown. It provides services for people over the age of 16 years.

The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, is committed to the development of a well-governed and patient-centred healthcare service for adults and children in the transgender community.

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