Background The Transgender Clinic at Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH) – a large government funded academic hospital in Cape Town, South Africa - assists with the mental health assessment of transgender individuals and facilitates access to other gender affirming services, such as hormone therapy, plastic and reconstructive surgery, psychosocial, and legal services. Objectives This clinical audit aimed to gain a clearer understanding of the service and areas within the service which could be improved. To this end the general compliance of the clinical services of the multidisciplinary team (MDT) as recommended by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health 7th Version of Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People (WPATH SOC 7) was assessed. In addition, an analysis of the demographic and clinical characteristics of individuals attending the clinic and a review of waiting times and distance travelled to attend the clinic, was conducted. Methods The study was a clinical audit without a repeat data collection cycle. Participants included the MDT members working at GSH's Transgender Unit and individuals attending the Transgender Clinic from September 2018 to December 2019 (n = 50). All 11 MDT members were invited to participate in the study and were required to complete a data collection sheet related to their competency and experience. Data collection with respect to services provided, and waiting times for services, was captured from clinician administered standardized historytaking and assessment booklets and patient hospital folder reviews. Results All members of the MDT who participated met the WPATH SOC 7 competency requirements. The mean age of the individuals attending the GSH Transgender Clinic was 28 years. Forty-eight percent were employed, 36% unemployed and 16% full time scholars. The 7 mean waiting time for an initial appointment with mental health was 75 days, 73 days for endocrinology and 255 days for plastic surgery. Non- attendance at initial appointment was a factor across gender affirming services – 18% mental health service, 20.5% endocrinology and 27% plastic surgery. Forty-two percent of individuals screened positive for a co-occurring mental health condition with a third of these individuals having more than one mental health disorder. Mood and anxiety disorders co-occurred together most frequently. Seventy-five percent of individuals with an untreated or partially treated mental health concern were provided a therapeutic intervention at the time of initial assessment. The introduction of laboratory investigations being performed prior to the initial appointment with endocrinology resulted in a significant improvement in waiting time to the initiation of hormone therapy. Conclusion WPATH SOC 7 competency requirements were met by the GSH Transgender clinical team. Inconsistencies were found in the documentation of WPATH SOC 7 recommended clinician tasks within the mental health and endocrinology service. This is secondary to the layout of the standardized history taking and assessment booklet, and documentation of certain tasks being clinician dependent. Limited hospital resources and subsequent understaffing, long waiting times for appointments and gender-affirming surgery and lack of access to other services (e.g. fertility services) result in continued barriers to gender-affirming care.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/35481 |
| Date | 17 January 2022 |
| Creators | Wilson, Allanah Joan |
| Contributors | Torline, John, Marais, Adele |
| Publisher | Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Master Thesis, Masters, MMed |
| Format | application/pdf |
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