The NHS is set to offer a new service which allows female-to-male transgender surgery for free later this year.
A leading London hospital has been commissioned by the country’s health service to “provide masculinising surgical treatment for patients with gender dysphoria”.
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital is looking for someone to fill a "Gender Affirmation Surgery Pathway Co-ordinator" role, describing it as a “unique opportunity”.
The NHS has commissioned a leading London hospital to "provide masculinising surgical treatment for patients with gender dysphoria
Dominic Lipinski
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
WikiCommons
The job advert reads: “There are currently no NHS providers of this service nationally so this is a unique opportunity to establish a new service from scratch and implement clinical pathways that will deliver life-changing benefits to patients.
“Our vision is for an innovative and patient-centred service, based on the principle that patients must have equal access to surgical services whatever their gender identity with reasonable adjustments to the delivery of care to match the individual’s needs and circumstances.
“This is a pivotal role with the post holder providing all necessary administrative support to the Gender Affirmation Surgery (GAS) service.
“It involves providing high level, confidential support, on a wide range of matters."
But the move has been met with outrage by many, including British pressure group Transgender Trend, who are challenging gender theory in education.
Stephanie Davies-Arai, head of Transgender Trend said: “The new service is specifically targeting females, many at an extremely vulnerable age in school or college, who believe they want to be male.
“Masculinising surgery includes... invasive surgery on female bodies which can never be reversed. There is no research on whether those undergoing these non-reversible operations later change their minds,” she told the Daily Mail.
The NHS currently offers surgery to women over the age of 17 wanting to become a trans male on an individual basis.
Those individuals have to firstly be referred by a health service approved gender identity clinic.
Speaking about the new service, an NHS England spokesman added: “The Chelsea and Westminster service will begin running later this year.
“This service will not directly impact on elective surgery work.
“It will provide lower masculinising surgery and does not include mastectomies."