How long is the wait for a first appointment at GIDS?

Gender care for young people is changing. New services are being set up. They will take over clinical responsibility for seeing children and young people on the national waiting list. The Tavistock GIDS service itself will be decommissioned as part of a managed transition of the service to these new ‘Phase 1’ service providers. Young people being seen in GIDS will move to these new services before GIDS closes.

During the financial year 2023/24 (which runs from the start of April 2023 to the end of March 2024), GIDS will focus on providing continuity of care for our open caseload of around 1,000 patients. Continuing workforce capacity constraints within GIDS, combined with the need to provide ongoing care for the large open caseload, means that GIDS is currently not offering any new first assessment appointments.

This will be kept under review, but may remain the position until the Hubs begin seeing new patients.

We know that this situation will be be frustrating, particularly for young people who are towards the top of the waiting list. NHS England has stated that this is a temporary arrangement, and the hubs will contact patients ahead of the new services opening and as soon as practical, with offers of appointment dates.

See our advice for parents on how to help your child whilst waiting to be seen.

Latest waiting list figures

Since Thursday 23 March 2023, GIDS is no longer holding or managing the waiting list for Children and Young People’s Gender Dysphoria Services.

The waiting list and all new referrals are being held by Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit (Arden & GEM CSU) on behalf of NHS England.

You can contact them on agem.CYP-GD@nhs.net with any queries.

Hear from our young people about how to manage while on our waiting list

What if I turn 18 while I am on your waiting list?

We are commissioned to see young people who are under the age of 18, and we have a long waiting list. This means that some young people on our waiting list will not be seen by our service before they turn 18. We are very sorry that we are not able to see these young people in GIDS, and are working to reduce our waiting times.

We know that this transfer can be difficult, and are working with our commissioners to arrange extra support for young people moving to adult services.

We have an agreement with the eight adult gender identity clinics in England and Wales: we can transfer our referrals to them, and they will honour the time spent on our waiting list.

If you reach the age of 17 and 9 months while on our waiting list (or if you are referred to our service from that age), we will send you a letter, asking if you would like to be transferred to the waiting list of an adult gender identity clinic, and which one you would prefer. If you want to be transferred, we will contact your preferred GIC and you will be added to their waiting list. They will take into account the amount of time that you have waited to be seen by GIDS.

Read some information about finding a community

Read some information about coping with difficult feelings

Read some information about what to do if you are low or depressed