0208 938 7590

GIC – limited service in view of the COVID-19 outbreak

The Gender Identity Clinic is not open to face-to-face appointments at the moment due to the COVID-19 outbreak. All our appointments are now being provided remotely.

We are currently offering all patients appointments by the videoconferencing application Zoom. There are detailed instructions about how to use Zoom on the Zoom website. By joining the Zoom appointment you are consenting to engaging with telemedicine with the clinic further information regarding this will be included in your appointment confirmation once our appointments team have confirmed an appointment with you.

For voice and communication therapy appointments you will be offered zoom and telephone appointments according to your voice exploration process, as advised by your speech and language therapist.

If you do not want to use Zoom, cannot use Zoom, or encounter a technical failure, the backup option will be a telephone call. Please make sure you have given us up-to-date contact details, including your telephone number, in advance. Please see our page ‘Updating your details at the GIC’ for more information.

If you are seeking hormone treatment or surgery, the Zoom appointment will go ahead, but all final decisions regarding surgery or hormones based on Zoom consultations will only be made after a team discussion. These discussions will be held when lockdown is relaxed. If your treatment cannot go ahead after that discussion, you will be offered one of the very first available appointments as soon as face-to-face appointments are available again.

If having a face-to-face appointment is the only acceptable option for you, you may decide to wait until social distancing measures have been lifted and the clinic is able to return to usual practice. Unfortunately we do not know when that may be.

Unfortunately, if the appointment is by telephone, we will not be able to safely gain confidence about whether to start hormone treatment or make a first referral for surgery. We will gather as much information as we can during the call, then try to book one of the next available face-to-face appointments, once those become available again.

The safety of our patients and staff at the GIC are our top priority – please bear with us as we work in this new environment.

Contacting the GIC:

You can contact the clinic on one of the email addresses below or by leaving a voicemail on our GIC Switchboard – 0208 938 7590

When emailing or leaving a voicemail please ensure that you include your full legal name, date of birth and postcode – without these we will be unable to access your records.

Please note that we are unable to answer queries relating to other GIC clinics.

We aim to respond to urgent enquiries and concerns as soon as we can. We thank you for your patience and understanding during this period.

If you have any symptoms of fever or new continuous cough you should self-isolate for up to 14 days. Please visit the 111 online coronavirus service to find out what to do next.

For further information visit the NHS coronavirus website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

We hope that you remain safe and healthy during this exceptionally uncertain time.

Guidance for video appointments

We use Zoom for our video appointments. You can find a guide for using Zoom below.