Over 100 appointments with National Gender Service lost in the system
More than 100 people have had their appointments with the National Gender Service lost in the system as a result of a “processing error”, it has emerged.
In apologising to the transgender community in Ireland, the centre, which is based out of St Columcille’s Hospital in Loughlinstown, south Dublin, said it had identified a group of people “who should have been seen for their initial visit by now” following a full review of its service.
Thus far, 109 people have been discovered who have been affected by the delay, the centre said.
A spokesperson added that all of those people had been written to informing them that they will now be reinstated into their correct position on the waiting list, and will be assigned a case manager from the service.
They said they were “confident” that all persons affected by the anomaly had now been identified, but asked that anyone who has been affected but has not been contacted to get in touch.
“We apologise to those affected by this discovery, their families, and the transgender community in Ireland,” the spokesperson said. “We have informed TENI (Transgender Equality Network Ireland) and other relevant stakeholders of the situation and will continue to update them as things progress.
It is unclear what proportion of the NGS’s patients are represented by the 109 persons identified in the review, nor how long the delays experienced by those people were.
The news was greeted with “shock” by TENI, which said it was its understanding that the patients in question had been on incorrect waiting lists for up to three years, a fact it described as a “breach of trust” in a strongly-worded statement.
“We are shocked and disappointed at this disregard for patients. This will have a devastating impact on our community,” its statement read.
Our community told us that they were waiting too long, that their referrals were lost in the system and that they were not being kept informed.
“We knew that these concerns were valid. Now the National Gender Service has finally admitted that their system has failed us,” it added.
Meanwhile, chief executive of LGBTQ charity BeLonG To Moninne Griffith said she was “deeply upset and appalled” by the misplaced patient referrals.
“This failure by the NGS has potentially significant physical, psychological and emotional implications for the affected patients,” she said.
The NGS said all those receiving a letter can expect to hear from their newly-assigned case manager within the next four to six weeks, who will “answer any questions the affected person might have and help them to get the appointment and support they need”.
A crisis meeting was held between the NGS and TENI earlier this week in order “to understand what happened, to ensure it never happens again and to figure out how TENI can support those affected”, a spokesperson for the network said.
It added that it had “received commitments” from the NGS that resources and practices would be put in place to resolve the issue.
However, those already on the waiting list with the NGS could now see their time being longer than expected, TENI said.
That will be dependent upon an assessment of the needs of those whose referrals had been misplaced, a spokesperson added.
