Getting a shared care agreement from your GP

The process can feel a bit like navigating a mine field built of bureaucracy, but hopefully this guide can give you the tools to navigate it as smoothly as possible.

What you’ll need

There’s a couple of documents you’ll need to procure before your GP will be able to prescribe HRT, these are:

• A formal diagnosis for gender dysphoria (or similar term)
• A letter of recommendation for HRT

These are the two documents that you would get after going through the NHS GIC pathway that enable a GP to prescribe, you’re just choosing to obtain these privately.

You can get these letters through a private gender service, check out an overview of some private services at this resource from TransActual.

A lot of GPs will only work with providers who are UK based and GMC registered.

If you need clarification on whether a service meets this criteria, you can contact them directly, or using our document generation service by selecting the ‘I need a shared care agreement’ option and selecting a service from the dropdown menu.

Talking to your GP

After you’ve obtained your documents, you’re now ready to talk to your GP. Your GP may have little to no experience with treating transgender patients, this may result in you having to explain to your GP that they can in fact, prescribe to you, and you don’t need to be seen by a GIC first because you’ve obtained the same documents privately.

We’ve made a supporting document generator for you to take to your GP visit, this will contain information tailored to you, providing a simple document that highlights your needs and saves you from trawling through pages and pages of legislation and guidance. If they say they can’t prescribe, this document will hopefully provide evidence to the contrary that you can point out to them.

Even with our supporting document, it is still a good idea to familiarize yourself with the relevant legislation and guidance, check out our data sources page to find links to the data sources used in the creation of this document.

What to do if your GP refuses to help

Whilst it can be very frustrating, if your GP is unwilling to help, usually your best option is to switch to a new practice, register with a new practice and your records will be automatically transferred over, at this point you can try again with your new GP.

If your GP has been discriminatory or for any reason you feel a formal complaint should be made, the NHS provide this guidance on filing a complaint.

TransActual are collecting data on refusals, report your experience here.

Disclaimer: Nothing within the contents of this article constitutes to medical advice, this is purely our interpretation of the available information. Further independent research is highly advised.

Article content last updated: October 2024