The backlog for specialist gender services has reached alarming levels: around 42,000 people in England and Wales are waiting for their first appointment at a Gender Identity Clinic, with average delays of about five years. Research also shows that 71% of people on NHS waiting lists report their health got worse while they waited, and many face waits that are far longer than the referral-to-treatment standard in the NHS Constitution. These figures point to a pressing wellbeing and access problem for trans and non-binary communities, prompting community organisations to develop practical short-term responses while longer systemic reforms are pursued.
In response, the charities LGBT Foundation and Gendered Intelligence have launched Waiting Well, a pilot waiting list support service designed to help people navigate the emotional and practical strain of prolonged waits. The project’s aim is to treat the period spent waiting as a time that can be supported with dignity, reliable information and peer connection rather than leaving people isolated. The pilot begins in the South West with the intention of creating a reproducible model for roll-out to other regions should the service show clear benefits.
What the service offers
Waiting Well combines peer-led groups, skills workshops and accessible resources to support mental health and readiness for care. Participants can join regular peer support sessions tailored to different points in the transition pathway, attend practical webinars that explain clinical pathways and prepare for appointments, and take part in hands-on sessions such as gender-affirming voice workshops. The programme emphasises simple, actionable tools: building community networks, understanding referral steps, and learning coping strategies to reduce the emotional toll of ambiguity and delay.
Peer support and practical workshops
The heart of the pilot is peer connection: facilitators who are themselves trans or non-binary lead groups that offer mutual support and shared knowledge. Alongside group work, the project delivers skills-based sessions focused on preparation for clinical assessment, communication with services, and practical life adjustments. By blending lived experience with clinical literacy, the programme seeks to provide both emotional validation and practical guidance, so participants feel better informed and less alone while they wait for their Gender Identity Clinic appointment.
Who can join and how to access the pilot
The initial phase of Waiting Well is open to adults aged 18 and over who live in South West England and are registered with Exeter / The Laurels Gender Identity Clinic. People can self-refer via the LGBT Foundation’s website or contact a dedicated phone line run by Gendered Intelligence for information and support. The phone number is 0330 355 9678, with opening times on Tuesday 10.00am–1.30pm and Thursday 3.00pm–6.30pm. Full sign-up details are available online at www.lgbt.foundation/waiting-well and genderedintelligence.co.uk/services/120-waiting-well.
Partners, aims and wider context
The pilot draws on the combined strengths of LGBT Foundation—with decades of LGBTQ+ health experience—and Gendered Intelligence—a trans-led organisation with deep community-rooted services. Together they aim to demonstrate a more humane approach to the time people spend waiting for care, aspiring to a national rollout that helps meet the NHS 18-week referral-to-first-treatment target for gender identity healthcare. While systemic pressures on the NHS remain real, the project models how interim support can protect dignity and reduce harm while the wider system works towards sustainable change.
By offering targeted support during waiting periods, the initiative highlights a clear principle: access delays should not equate to abandonment. The Waiting Well pilot intends to show how peer-led, evidence-informed interventions can make waiting less damaging and more manageable, and to provide a blueprint for other regions to adopt. For more information or to self-refer, visit www.lgbt.foundation/waiting-well or genderedintelligence.co.uk/services/120-waiting-well, or call 0330 355 9678.