From April 2013, NHS England has taken on many of the functions of the former primary care trusts (PCTs) with regard to the commissioning of primary care health services, as well as some nationally-based functions previously undertaken by the Department of Health.

The main aim of NHS England is to improve the health outcomes for people in England.

We believe the new approach we are taking will really make a difference and deliver the improved health outcomes we all want to see.

Central to our ambition is to place the patients and the public at the heart of everything we do. We are what we want the NHS to be – open, evidence-based and inclusive, to be transparent about the decisions we make, the way we operate and the impact we have.

We encourage patient and public participation in the NHS, treat them respectfully and put their interests first. This allows us to develop the insight to help us improve outcomes and guarantee no community is left behind or disadvantaged.

Gender Identity Services Clinical Reference Group

This Clinical Reference Group (CRG) covers the clinical and surgical care within Gender Identity Services. Gender dysphoria is a condition in which there is a psychological experience of oneself as a man or woman, which is incongruent with the individual’s external sexual characteristics of the body. The individual’s physical sex is not aligned to their gender identity.

Sometimes, the distress/discomfort is sufficiently intense that people undergo transition from one point on a notional gender continuum to another – most commonly from Male-to-Female (MtF) or Female-to-Male (FtM). This typically involves changes to social role and presentation, and may necessitate treatment with cross-sex hormones and/or having gender related surgery.