You should have received an appointment letter with the date of your next appointment. 

If you did not receive this letter or cannot find it then just call us at 01 2115045 or email us at [email protected] and we can check this for you.  

If you need to reschedule your endocrine appointment then just call us at 01 2115045 or email us at [email protected]

We can usually accommodate rescheduling requests, but in order to deliver healthcare safely, we do need to see people regularly. If you are requesting a reschedule, we ask that you request this in advance of your appointment (more than 3 working days) so that we can offer the slot to someone else.

If you have rescheduled a number of times in a row, and we have not seen you in Clinic for a while, then we may not be able to reschedule. If this is the case then we can talk to you about your difficulties in attending clinic and will try to help you address these difficulties.

If an appointment is cancelled at short notice, or missed, we will offer you another appointment. However, further cancellations at short notice, or missed appointments will result in discharge to your GP. Re-referral will then be needed to attend the service.

A Virtual Appointment is one that is done over the phone or by video call. Virtual Appointments are not suitable for everyone or for every type of consultation.

We can offer Virtual Appointments in some of our Endocrine Clinics, Speech and Language Clinics, Psychology clinics and Social Work Clinics.

If your Doctor, Nurse, Speech and Language Therapist or Social Worker thinks that your consultation could be done as a virtual appointment then they will offer you that option.

That depends on the type of appointment and your clinical history. If you would like to change to a Virtual Appointment then please get in touch by phone at 01 2115045 or by email at [email protected] and we can see if this can be arranged.

Please be advised that Virtual Endocrine Clinic appointments can only be offered every second appointment. To deliver healthcare safely and effectively, we do need to see you in person on a regular basis. Therefore, if your last Endocrine Clinic appointment was a Virtual Appointment then the next one must be an in-person appointment. 

The first thing to do is to think about what questions you have about your medical transition. Sometimes it is helpful to write these down and bring them with you to your appointment so that you can remember them all. This would help you get the most out of your appointment. Blood tests are also recommended (see next question for details). 

When you are on hormones, either testosterone or oestrogen, you should have regular blood tests.

• For advice on getting your bloods checked when taking testosterone click here.                                                                    
• For advice on getting your bloods checked when taking oestrogen click here.

The blood tests needed are:

• Testosterone, Oestrogen
• FSH, LH
• Full blood count
• Renal profile
• Liver function tests
• Lipid profile
• Prolactin (only if you are on oestrogen or planning to start oestrogen)

These tests can be done by your GP or at St Columcille’s Hospital. If you get the blood tests done with your GP, then you should either bring the results with you to clinic, or email them to us at [email protected] one week before the date of your appointment.

If you would like to have these blood tests done at St Columcille’s Hospital, then please contact us at 01-2115045 or at [email protected] and we will send you out the required forms.

We recommend that you have your blood test done in advance of your next appointment.  Depending on what medication you are on, we may ask you to get your bloods done at a certain time (for example, right before your next injection is due or a few hours after you take medication). We will let you know when we would like you to have these done. 

Once you have your results, please send them to us by email before you attend or bring them with you to your next appointment.  

Yes: if you don’t have your blood tests done then you can still come to your Endocrine Clinic Appointment.

We recommend that people do have their blood tests done before their clinic appointment. This is to allow us to be able to make a full evaluation of your care at Clinic.

If we do not have up to date blood tests available at your appointment then we may not detect serious complications and this poses a risk to your health.

If we do not have up to date blood tests available at your appointment then we may not be able to change doses or treatments as we will not have enough information to do this without blood tests.

However, we can usually do blood tests at clinic. The results will not be available for a week or so but we can check them after clinic and get back to you if needed.

In general, your prescription will be renewed when you attend the Endocrine Clinic appointment. 

If you have been prescribed hormones by us, and your prescription is due for renewal before your next appointment, or you have missed an appointment, then please call us at 01 2115045 or email us at [email protected] so that we can issue a new prescription.

We can provide bridging prescriptions to ensure you have enough medication, however we will need to see you in clinic regularly to continue your care. 

Prescriptions are issued directly to your Pharmacy and GP.  Please confirm the Pharmacy you are attending and your GP details when you contact us. Please also confirm whether you have a medical card. Please allow up to seven working days for the prescription to arrive.