The Northern Gender Network Charter

Our Responsibilities

All clinicians practice in a safe and ethical manner. As such, we ensure equity to all patients.

The NGN is a private enterprise charging fees. We will deliver the best service we can for the fees we receive. However, we can’t fast track, or in any other way, influence your care within the NHS. Although individual clinicians are highly likely to also work within the NHS, the services they provide as part of the NGN, are entirely separate from NHS services.

We will treat you with courtesy and respect. Your confidentiality is our priority.

We all try hard to get things right, but welcome your suggestions and complaints if we don’t succeed.

All clinicians will maintain their professional registration and meet appropriate CPD requirements.

We will ensure regular peer group supervision and governance of NGN

We adhere to the Interim Gender Dysphoria Protocol and Service Guideline 2013/14 published by NHS England as well as the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Standards of Care, Version 7.

Your Responsibilities

You should be clear that paying for the services of any clinician within this Network, will NOT fast track you care with any NHS Gender Clinic. Although individual clinicians are highly likely to work within NHS Gender Clinics, it would be unethical of them to fast track your care within the NHS system. They will refuse to do so.

We ask that you treat all clinicians with courtesy and respect.

Each clinician has their own premises in different location, their own fee structure and means of settling such fees. Please ensure that you have familiarised yourself with the location, fees and how to settle such fees for the clinician(s) you choose to see.

It is your responsibility to ensure you understand the cancellation and missed appointments policy of those clinicians you choose to work with. There will be some fees to pay for appointments not attended or cancelled too late to rearrange another client.

Missing Appointments

Patients will be charged the full fee for a cancelled or missed session should they not rearrange such a session within 48 hours prior to an appointment.

Confidentiality

All clinicians have a legal duty to respect patient confidentiality, verbal and written, including data held on the computer system.

Any other member of staff working with/at the premises of the clinician(s) you choose to see, are bound by confidentiality clauses in their contracts of employment, which prevents release of any information about you to any party.

We will maintain accurate clinical records and comply with an appropriate professional standard to ensure the appropriate management of private, clinical information.

Information about you can only be given to outside bodies with your signed consent, which will be included in your clinical records.

We will only correspondent to those addresses, emails, phone numbers etc that you provide. We assume in you providing such detail that you consent to these means being used to communicate with you. Should you not update your detail when these might change, we can’t accept responsibility for any breach of confidentiality.

Freedom of Information Act

The Northern Gender Network will comply with legislation laid out in the Freedom of Information Act.

Privacy statement

NGN do everything we can to provide the highest standard of care for our service users. To do so we keep clinical notes and produce reports of your involvement with us.

Each clinician will ensure that they manage clinical and personal information in an appropriate manner as is suggested by the Information Commissioner’s Office (link with https://ico.org.uk/). Each clinician is appropriately registered with this office.

Your information is likely to be shared with other clinicians in the Northern Gender Network ONLY when you might be cross-referred to such a clinician.

Your GP will be copied into all correspondence unless you specifically indicated that you do not wish this to take place.

You may be contacted by email, phone, text or post.

Sharing your information without consent

We will normally ask you for your consent, but there are times when we may be required by law to share your information without your consent, for example:

where there is a serious risk of harm or abuse to you or other people
where a serious crime, such as assault, is being investigated or where it could be prevented
notification of new births
where we encounter infectious diseases that may endanger the safety of others, such as Meningitisor measles (but not HIV/AIDS)
where a formal court order has been issued
where there is a legal requirement, for example if you had committed a Road Traffic Offence.