Trans males threaten to SUE after delays in NHS leave them with ‘half-built’ penises

Transgender patients are threatening legal action against the NHS after delays have left them with ‘half-built’ penises.

Some remain ‘in limbo’ between surgeries – leaving them with ‘indeterminate genitalia’ – while others are still waiting to undergo their first operation.

Patients say this has caused physical and psychological distress and affected their work and personal lives.

Problems with treatment arose after NHS England commissioned St Peter’s Andrology Centre – a private clinic in London – to carry out surgery but did not renew the contract when it expired at the end of March 2020.

A new provider – New Victoria Hospital in London – was not appointed until September 2021.

Legal firm Leigh Day has now sent a letter to NHS England and St Peter’s, claiming their failures led to the collapse in commissioning arrangements and contributed to delays.

It said there are thousands of people on the waiting list for masculinising surgery. Many of them consented to the first stage of their surgeries before 2020 without being told of the long waiting times and are still waiting to finish their treatment.

Others are yet to receive a referral to see a surgical consultant, or have been referred but haven’t been added to the waiting list. The law firm is representing 16 people over the treatment delays. One patient, Matthew [not his real name], said: ‘I have now been living for three years with an incomplete penis reconstruction. This continues to have a vast negative impact on my mental health.

‘My confidence has disappeared. I haven’t been able to socialise like I used to, travel or gain new employment. I find it hard to trust people now.

‘I have been hugely affected by stress which has resulted in other knock-on health issues, such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, hair loss and suicidal thoughts.’

The surgeries – including metoidioplasty (hysterectomy and genital reconstruction) and phalloplasty (the creation of a penis from existing genital tissue or skin grafts) – are available to trans men who were born female. They are complex procedures which often require three stages of surgery.

St Peter’s website said there would normally be at least a three-month wait between surgeries and patients were told they could expect to wait from six to 12 months between procedures, according to Leigh Day. Patients now face delays of up to three to four years, the law firm says.

They have also now been told that New Victoria Hospital will perform the second stage of metoidioplasty surgery in two procedures rather than one. So they face another procedure that they previously did not expect or consent to.

The hospital is also reportedly not accepting any new surgical referrals.

Patients could be entitled to compensation worth tens of thousands of pounds each, Leigh Day says.

The firm wants to ‘hold those responsible to account and prevent such mistakes from being repeated’.

Solicitor Kate Egerton said: ‘Being left in between surgeries or for the procedures to commence has created intense physical and emotional turmoil for our clients who are facing increased gender dysphoria – the very thing that the surgeries were supposed to mitigate.

‘The defendants have been negligent in their provision of the surgeries and have breached our clients’ human rights.’

Chay Brown, from campaign group TransActual, said: ‘Those on the list have been left in limbo for far too long. Not only have their mental and physical health been impacted but also their careers, life plans and personal relationships.’

A spokesman for NHS England said: ‘This is an ongoing potential legal matter and we are therefore unable to comment at this time.’