"The failure of the Sheffield Gender Identity Clinic"

I was referred to the clinic at the end of February 2018 and since then things have just been getting worse and worse. I feel like I've not been told the truth about their waiting times, telling me the longest time someone has been waiting is one thing when I have been waiting longer. They’ve told me before not to contact anymore when I’ve been trying to clear up what they’ve told me. Today was the last straw.

Seven months ago I was contacted by a new service that had opened which took over my transition (at this point I can say this saved my life as I would not have coped with what has happened if I was still under Sheffield’s “care.”) One of the first things they asked me was if it was okay for them to contact Sheffield to take me off their list, I agreed to this and proceeded with this new service. My last contact with them was them telling me not to email any longer because they don’t have the resources to respond to me anymore. Today I received a letter asking me if my details were still the same and if I still wished to remain on their waiting list, to my knowledge I was supposed to be taken off seven months ago. I think to myself that it’s a bit annoying but I’ll call the number they gave me in the letter and explain everything, that way I will know that we’re all on the right page. I call the number and get hit with a recorded response saying they are too understaffed to answer the phone but if my query is about an appointment today I can leave a message and they’ll get back to me but they won’t be responding to any other queries. I go to call it again and record what is said and have way through the message they disconnect the call. 

If I didn’t have this other service I would be on the phone with the crisis team right now. Their constant excuses around the waiting lists have already been the cause of a massive erosion to my mental health and at this point I’d be giving up. I am beyond livid at this. I will be taking my story to the news and where ever I can to highlight not only how poor of a service Sheffield Gender Clinic is but how down right dangerous they are. If I hadn’t have had this other service (which is Manchester based only and is a pilot scheme so may not even last past 2 years) it could have caused my death.