What has happened?
The NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee (NWJCC) has asked Cardiff and Vale University Health Board to immediately pause referrals from the Welsh Gender Service for gender affirming surgery and existing scheduled surgeries while further independent clinical review work is carried out.
Concerns have arisen from referral data from 2025-26 indicating significantly higher rates of referral for gender affirming surgery from the Welsh Gender Service compared with English gender services. In addition, concerns were raised regarding aspects of referral and assessment processes.
Well yes, the system in England has been deliberately defunded and is backlogged by 10 years in some places. If you had as few referrals as England has, then that would be a sign that your system is broken.
At this stage, the pause applies specifically to the surgical pathway within the Welsh Gender Service. Other parts of the service continue to operate, including:
- Hormone therapy support
- Endocrine review services
- Psychological support services
- Speech and language therapy
These services are not affected by the current pause.
I guess it could be worse, but this smells like gender criticals.
So what happens to the people who were waiting years for their surgery and have now had them cancelled?
Haha, we don’t care about what happens to them. Go fuck yourselves.
- Wales
They get to sit on the waiting list.
