Petition calling for gender-affirming surgery pause to be lifted passes 10,000 signatures

Nation.Cymru staff

A petition calling for the immediate resumption of gender-affirming surgery for NHS patients in Wales has attracted more than 10,000 signatures in less than 48 hours.

The Senedd petition, launched by Christopher May, calls on the Welsh Government and NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee (NWJCC) to reverse the suspension of surgical referrals, assessments and scheduled operations through the Welsh Gender Service.

By Sunday evening it had attracted more than 13,000 signatures.

The petition calls for scheduled and approved operations to resume for patients who have already completed assessments, while any ongoing clinical review is carried out alongside existing patient care.

It also calls for clear terms of reference and a timetable to be published for the independent review of the Welsh Gender Service.

Mr May said: “To see a Senedd petition cross 10,000 signatures in just 48 hours proves that the Welsh public recognises exactly how unjust this decision is. The speed of this response shows that people will not allow vulnerable groups to be used as a political football.

“I am not personally trans, but I stand firmly with the community. It is a terrifying failure of democracy when an entire national surgical pathway for adults can be shut down overnight based on external political pressure and cherry-picked statistics rather than peer-reviewed clinical audits.

“These are medical decisions that must remain in the hands of the actual medical professionals treating these patients.”

Mr May added: “The Welsh Government must immediately unfreeze these surgical pathways. Any review of the Welsh Gender Service needs to be transparent, based on genuine clinical evidence, and entirely free from the manufactured panic that currently dictates trans healthcare discussions in the United Kingdom and the world over.”

The NWJCC instructed Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, which runs the Welsh Gender Service, to pause referrals for gender-affirming surgery, surgical assessments and scheduled surgery following a meeting of its Quality, Safety and Outcomes Committee on August 24.

The service was placed under Level 3 escalation, a formal NHS improvement and assurance process involving increased oversight, monitoring and improvement action.

The NWJCC has said data showed surgery referral rates from the Welsh service were “significantly higher” than in England, while the proportion of patients progressing from referral for some types of surgery was significantly lower.

It also raised concerns about whether patients had been appropriately assessed. These included whether wider health needs had been fully considered and whether some patients met requirements for surgery.

An independent review of the service is now being commissioned.

The suspension applies only to the surgical pathway. Other care provided through the Welsh Gender Service continues, including hormone therapy support, endocrine reviews, psychological support, speech and language therapy and fertility services.

Uncertainty

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said it recognised the uncertainty was worrying for patients and families and was working with the NWJCC to provide the assurances needed for the service to be de-escalated “as quickly and safely as possible”.

It said: “Our commitment to providing high-quality, evidence-based and compassionate gender affirming care for people across Wales remains unchanged.”

Health Minister Mabon ap Gwynfor and Deputy First Minister Sioned Williams have met the NWJCC over the decision.

Assurances

The Welsh Government said ministers had received assurances that the suspension was a “pause, not a stop”.

It added: “Each relevant case will be reviewed, and once the JCC has assurances that appropriate clinical assessments are in place, individuals will progress to surgery at the earliest possible opportunity.”

First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth has said the review should be completed quickly.

Twenty-six of Plaid Cymru’s 28 backbench Senedd members have also written to NWJCC chairman Ian Green expressing “profound disappointment” at the decision, saying it had caused “distress, fear and a deep sense of uncertainty” among the trans community.

Reform UK and the Welsh Conservatives have backed the pause.

Reform’s Welsh leader Dan Thomas said “sensible-minded people in Wales” would welcome the suspension, while Welsh Conservative health spokeswoman Natasha Asghar said it was “imperative” to establish why a higher proportion of patients in Wales had been referred for surgery, and whether assessment processes and safeguards were sufficiently robust.

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