The NHS West of England Specialist Gender Identity Clinic in Exeter, also known as The Laurels. (Google Maps)
An NHS gender clinic says it’s “very sorry” after it emerged that thousands of patients are languishing on a waiting list that is now five years long.
Patients who were referred by their GP in 2016 are only now being seen for their first appointment at the West of England Specialist Gender Identity Clinic, better known as The Laurels, in Exeter.
There are currently 2,702 people waiting for their first assessment, with 715 currently undergoing treatment at The Laurels, according to figures obtained by
The NHS West of England Specialist Gender Identity Clinic in Exeter, also known as The Laurels. (Google Maps)
NHS gender identity clinic (GIC) The Laurels, one of only seven in the entire country, has assessed just two patients in a year, with one person left on the waiting list for almost six years.
The shocking figures were revealed when a service user submitted a Freedom of Information (FoI) request to the Devon Partnership NHS Trust, which runs the West of England Specialist Gender Identity Clinic in Exeter, commonly known as The Laurels.
The service user submitted the request after finding “the lack of public information extremely distressing, and a constant drain on [their] mental health”.