There are 7 different adult Gender Identity Clinics (GICs) in England and 1 in Wales. These are: • Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, Gender Identity Clinic London (formerly Charing Cross). • The Laurels Gender Identity Clinic, Exeter • Leeds Gender Identity Clinic, Leeds • The Welsh Gender Service, Cardiff, Wales • Northampton Gender Identity Clinic, Daventry • Northern Region Gender Dysphoria Service, Newcastle • The Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health • Porterbrook Clinic Gender Identity Service, Sheffield • Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service, London (some satellite clinics run at the Exeter and Leeds clinics) is a service specially set up for those that are under 17. All adult patients have the right to choose which of the clinics they are referred to, no matter where they live (Interim NHS England Gender Dysphoria Protocol and Guideline 2013/14). What you might not know is that you can put your name on the waiting list for as many Gender Identity Clinics as you want. The current wait time in the UK to be seen at a Gender Identity Clinic to get a diagnosis of Gender Dysphoria is around 3-4 years (approximate wait times as of 2021) with the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust (formerly known as Charing Cross) Gender Identity Clinic in London, currently having the shortest wait times (sorry, but this is still years). For many trans folks, who are struggling with their physical and mental health waiting this amount of time just isn’t a realistic option. So many trans people look into Shared Care options in the meantime. Shared Care agreements are agreements made between private gender specialists / a Gender Identity Clinic in the UK and your GP and are often used to avoid the longer wait times before starting hormones and to cut hormone prescription costs down – so you’ll pay an NHS prescription cost for your hormones whilst on the waiting list to see a Gender Identity Clinic. With a shared care agreement, you’ll usually have blood tests with your GP every 2-3 months to monitor your hormone levels which is then passed on to your private endocrinologist to make sure everything is ok. Your endocrinologist will talk to your GP and make all decisions on when to arrange blood tests. How to interpret results, how to adjust dosing etc, until an NHS Gender Identity Clinic takes over. Check out my video on shared care to find out more! Good luck!