Please see referral form under Health Care Professionals tab for all the information needed to refer your patient.

We are currently seeing people who were referred between three and three and a half years ago. We are working to reduce this time but wait times can go up or down.

While waiting for review in the National Gender Service, clinical needs should be addressed. Therefore, as well as making a referral to the National Gender Service we recommend the following:

1. Consider referral to local support groups or organisations for social support.
2. Referral to local mental health services is recommended if there are any co-existent mental health symptoms of concern.
3. If there is any functional impairment then a referral to appropriate services such as the National Learning Network is strongly recommended. If your patient has decreased social activity, consider local social prescribing. More information on social prescribing can be found here.
4. If there are concerns around ability to communicate effectively then refer to local Speech and Language Therapy services.
5. Signpost to our website for more information on pathways, supports and other resources.

There are no criteria for referral other than the person wants to medically transition and is seventeen years old or older. Blood tests are not needed and a diagnosis of gender dysphoria is not needed for referral. If you are not the person’s usual GP, then we recommend you copy in the person’s GP, with the individuals permission.

No: there is no requirement for a person to have been seen by a mental health professional before they are referred. However, if the person has been seen by mental health professionals in the past, then it would be helpful to include these reports with the referral, or to indicate which services/professionals the person has attended.

You can contact us at the National Gender Service and a member of our team will help you. Phone 01 211 5045 or email [email protected] 

We get a lot of queries from GP’s seeking support for people who have already started hormones and have not attended the National Gender Service. This could be for a variety of reasons. 

Some people may have accessed hormones through a gender clinic abroad and have moved to Ireland, if this is the case, then contacting the previous healthcare provider for a clinical handover is recommended.  

Some people may have accessed an endocrinologist in Ireland who does not work in the National Gender Service. If this is the case, then contacting this endocrinologist should be the first step. 

Some people may be using  Telehealth services located overseas or sourcing hormones online or via unprescribed routes. Before continuing to prescribe for anyone in these categories, we recommend contacting your indemnifier and the Irish Medical Council as the next step. 

We are also available to advise on general healthcare queries but cannot offer any individual care plan or advice on a specific person without having seen them. If in doubt, then please do contact us and we will do our best to help and advise.