January 26, 2011 9:50 AM GMT
Spectrum London is a member of the WLMHT (also known as Charing Cross) Gender Identity Clinic Stakeholders group. This group meets on a quarterly basis with members of the Clinics management, psych team, people from Specialist Commissioning groups such as the London consortium, and other Trans organisations such as GIRES and Press For Change.
Because of a lack of room at the meeting space, the amount of groups able to attend are limited. Spectrum London have been concerned for some time that information that is relevent to both patients Nationwide and other support groups around the UK is not being reported back, especially by the the larger organisations. With this in mind we have decided to do our best to get information out as far and wide on this page. Please pop back from time to time and we will ensure to get as much information out to you on this page...
Any documentation available to download here that has been given to us by the clinic is public domain and able to be shared, in addition we will also be sharing useful information and contact numbers.
Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic
179-183 Fulham Palace Road
London
W6 8QZ
Tel: 020 8483 2801
Fax: 020 8483 2873
http://www.spectrumlondon[...]out.htm
Paulette Mullings - Gender Identity Clinic Manager
[email protected]
Charing Cross Business Plan October 2009 - This document is the actual Business plan created by the clinic management for approval, and accepted for the future expansion of the clinic. It has been approved for the public domain and is an interesting read for patients of the clinic, and anyone else interested in some of the clinics day to day operation.
WLMHT Myths Handout - Over the Years the clinic has come under fire with many myths about the place, the what you can and can't do, that they will strike you off at the blink of an eye, that you have to wear a skirt!. Although some of these myths had an air of truthfulness in the past this document (produced by Dr Lorimer with full agreement from the Psych team) visits these areas and hopefully will give patients a bit more piece of mind and help dispell the misinformation passed around the trans community.
Gender Recognition Panel guidance on changing name - There has been confusion in the past with people sending in their change of name documentation and the clinic deeming the documentation to be wrong, with some cases where patients were told wrongly on the phone that their documentation was not valid. The clinic have investgated this also and have now confirmed that they accept paperwork in accordance to the guidlines produced by the Gender Recognition Panel. This document is the same document that they work with and accept.
Latest news on the CX Clinic website is that it's still with the developers as to the look and feel, as and when that is done then they can look to what information will be put on there.
General advice:
When attending your first appointment check with reception that your records are correct on the system, inaddition make sure that the name and address details of your GP are also correct, if possible give them a mobile number as well if they need to contact you to cancel or re-schedule an appointment.
If you are expecting a date for your first appointment we would advise ringing them just in case, it is known for them to forget to send letters out!
If you need to cancel an appointment with them give them as much time as possible, and if possible put it in writing as well so that you are covered. The clinic says a minimum of 48 hours but the more notice you can give them the better chance that appointment can be offered to someone else.
Give the clinic a call nearer the appointment time to make sure the appointment has not been cancelled and that you haven't been told.
Make sure you have a copy of the clinic's Telephone number in case you are running late.
Always ensure if someone is important that you are sending that you send it by recorded mail so that it can be signed for.
Always take copies of documentation that has already been sent in case it has been lost and so you can hand to the doctor who is seeing you for the appointment.
