Gender Healthcare
Gender diversity is a part of the human experience, and of human society. Gender diverse people should be respected in their identities, and in their right to express themselves.
Gender diverse people might include:
- trans people
- non-binary people
- gender questioning people.
Gender diverse people sometimes transition. Transition means that they move from being seen or understood as their birth gender, to being seen or understood as another gender.
Gender diverse people who transition can explore their gender, socially transition, and legally transition, without needing healthcare services.
Some people, as part of their transition process, may seek any or all of the following health and social care services:
- prescriptions of hormone therapy or other medication
- surgery
- other clinical health and social care interventions.
There are benefits and risks associated with the medical and surgical interventions used in transition.
The role of health and social care services is to make sure that healthcare interventions are delivered effectively and safely.
The HSE National Clinical Programme for Gender Healthcare is being established to develop an updated Model of Care for gender healthcare services in Ireland, with an aim of providing safe and effective health and social care for those seeking healthcare services.
This updated Model of Care is required given the ongoing changes in gender healthcare.
These changes include a developing evidence base, increasing numbers of people being referred to services, and a wider range of clinical needs in the people being referred.
The purpose of the HSE Model of Care for Gender Healthcare is to provide a clinical framework for safe and effective delivery of gender healthcare services in Ireland.
It is not intended to define what it means to be trans or gender diverse.
Two main elements will form the basis for the development of the updated HSE Model of Care:
- Evidence base - a review of the research and other available clinical data relating to gender healthcare.
- Experience base - an understanding of the experience of service users, their families, healthcare workers working in gender healthcare, and other stakeholders.
This work will be completed via a number of Working Groups. Terms of Reference for these Groups, when agreed, will be available in our documents. We will continue to update this webpage as the work of the National Clinical Programme for Gender Healthcare progresses.
For more information on these two elements, including updates on our work in these areas, please see: