Endocrine Abstracts

Background: People wanting to access gender affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) as part of gender affirming treatments are increasing in number and often face long waiting lists. Nationally there is often limited and inconsistent endocrine support for this group. As a result people often feel unsupported and confused in their treatment journey. (In 2019 we set up a dedicated endocrine clinic within the Grampian GIC (gender identity clinic), with the specific remit to see all people wanting GAHT. It became clear that after initial establishment of this service that an endocrine nurse specialist role would be of fundamental benefit to provide an ongoing supportive framework for person centred care. What we did We have almost 400 people within the service requiring ongoing follow up for GAHT. A new nurse led clinic was developed to cover review of hormone therapy (e.g. blood test monitoring, titration of hormonal regime, review of effects of hormones) and overall health (e.g. assessment of cardiovascular risk, healthy lifestyle advice and relevant gender appropriate screening guidance). This framework of care has been developed and is ever evolving to provide a supportive care journey for the person within the GIC. The nurse specialist attends local and national GIC MDTs and has been involved in redevelopment of national guidelines. Progress to date Within the endocrine service waiting lists are up to date. All people on long term GAHT who wish specialist endocrine follow-up can access this service. People on GAHT now have an assessable, timely and knowledgeable point of contact via the endocrine nurse specialist.

Discussion: We hope by sharing the work undertaken by Grampian endocrine-GIC to highlight a useable framework that can be mirrored by other services when developing support for people on GAHT.