WHAT IS THE NHS DOING AT CHELSEA & WESTMINSTER?

NHS-FUNDED GENDER SURGERY

Chelsea & Westminster Hospital has been commissioned by NHS England to provide gender surgery.

Its own Chelsea Centre for Gender Surgery now says it provides:

PHALLOPLASTY

Creation of a penis using tissue taken from the forearm, thigh, groin or abdomen.

METOIDIOPLASTY

Surgery using hormonally enlarged clitoral tissue to create a small penis.

HYSTERECTOMY

Removal of the womb — sometimes together with the ovaries and fallopian tubes.

MASTECTOMY & CHEST RECONSTRUCTION

Removal of both breasts and reconstruction of the chest.

VAGINECTOMY & URETHRAL SURGERY

Removal of vaginal tissue and, in some procedures, reconstruction of the urinary tract.

Chelsea & Westminster describes itself as the first NHS team providing all gender-affirming surgeries available through the NHS gender dysphoria pathway.

HOW MUCH DOES THE NHS SPEND?

Official Parliamentary figures show that in 2019/20 NHS England recorded:

573 masculinising genital surgical interventions — £4.892 MILLION

528 feminising genital surgical interventions — approximately £8.94 MILLION, with some masculinising chest surgery costs included in that figure.

For 2020/21, NHS England allocated:

£19 MILLION

for specialist surgical procedures on the gender dysphoria pathway.

NHS England told Parliament that the eventual actual spend could not then be calculated because complete surgical activity data was not yet available.

THESE ARE MAJOR, IRREVERSIBLE OPERATIONS.

At a time of intense pressure on NHS waiting lists, staffing and budgets, the public is entitled to ask:

How many operations are now being performed?

What is the total annual cost?

What are the complication and revision rates?

What evidence is being collected on long-term outcomes and regret?

NHS MONEY. PUBLIC SCRUTINY.

Source: Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; NHS England/DHSC Parliamentary Answers.