Spectrum London is a member of the WLMHT (also known as Charing Cross) Gender Identity Clinic Stakeholders group. This group meets on a quarterly basis with members of the Clinics management, psych team, people from Specialist Commissioning groups such as the London consortium (NHS London), and other Trans organisations such as GIRES and Press For Change.

The current situation in regard to the Stakeholders group is that it is still suspended and has been so since August 2010, all of the trans organisations that attend the group have expressed concern that the group is not able to meet. We are not able to communicate in the manner previously with the clinic and have not been involved input wise with many of the recent changes the clinic have implemented, such as the new "Did not Attend Policy". We continue to pass on members concerns to the clinic and we hope that there will be a positive response but do not hold out much hope. For now we will continue to have this page until we have a definitive response from the clinic, and if the stakeholders group does not start again will move the information here into other pages on the site. As soon as we know something that is all we can do for now.

Because of a lack of room at the meeting space, the amount of groups able to attend are limited. Spectrum London have been concerned for some time that information that is relevent to both patients Nationwide and other support groups around the UK is not being reported back, especially by the the larger organisations. With this in mind we have decided to do our best to get information out as far and wide on this page. Please pop back from time to time and we will ensure to get as much information out to you on this page...

Any documentation available to download here that has been given to us by the clinic is public domain and able to be shared, in addition we will also be sharing useful information and contact numbers.

Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic
179-183 Fulham Palace Road
London
W6 8QZ

Tel: 020 8483 2801
Fax: 020 8483 2873

Paulette Mullings - Gender Identity Clinic Manager

paulette.mullings@wlmht.nhs.uk

West London Mental Health Trust Gender Identity Clinic Website - The clinic's Website.

Charing Cross Business Plan October 2009 - This document is the actual Business plan created by the clinic management for approval, and accepted for the future expansion of the clinic. It has been approved for the public domain and is an interesting read for patients of the clinic, and anyone else interested in some of the clinics day to day operation.

WLMHT Myths Handout - Over the Years the clinic has come under fire with many myths about the place, the what you can and can't do, that they will strike you off at the blink of an eye, that you have to wear a skirt!. Although some of these myths had an air of truthfulness in the past this document (produced by Dr Lorimer with full agreement from the Psych team) visits these areas and hopefully will give patients a bit more piece of mind and help dispell the misinformation passed around the trans community.

Gender Recognition Panel guidance on changing name - There has been confusion in the past with people sending in their change of name documentation and the clinic deeming the documentation to be wrong, with some cases where patients were told wrongly on the phone that their documentation was not valid. The clinic have investgated this also and have now confirmed that they accept paperwork in accordance to the guidlines produced by the Gender Recognition Panel. This document is the same document that they work with and accept.

General advice:

When attending your first appointment check with reception that your records are correct on the system, in addition make sure that the name and address details of your GP are also correct, if possible give them a mobile number as well if they need to contact you to cancel or re-schedule an appointment.

If you are expecting a date for your first appointment we would advise ringing them just in case, it is known for them to forget to send letters out!

If you need to cancel an appointment with them give them as much time as possible, and if possible put it in writing as well so that you are covered. The clinic says a minimum of 48 hours but the more notice you can give them the better chance that appointment can be offered to someone else. The clinics latest policy which is slightly unfair is that if you do not give them at least 48 hours notice then they will count you as a Did Not Attend, so please make sure you do not get penalised by their system and cancel with plenty of time.

Give the clinic a call nearer the appointment time to make sure the appointment has not been cancelled and that you haven't been told.

Make sure you have a copy of the clinic's Telephone number in case you are running late.

If the clinic ring you to cancel the appointment always make sure they give you an alternative, ensure you get the person's name who called you and follow up if you do not receive confirmation in writing.

If you are unemployed and on benefits you can reclaim the travel costs at the charing cross hospital down the road from the clinic. Make sure you have all relevent proof of the benefits, the appointment letter and the correct reclaim form with you so that you can pop along after the appointment to be reinbursed. You should be able to reclaim for a cancelled appointment by the clinic, make sure you have the letter of cancellation in order to do this.

Always ensure if something is important that you are sending that you send it by recorded mail so that it can be signed for and that you have a record for any chasing of the clinic.

Always take copies of documentation that has already been sent in case it has been lost and so you can hand to the doctor who is seeing you for the appointment, especially copies of blood tests and supporting paperwork for your file.