Developing a transgender primary care service: the Bridge at Southwark

Transgender people experience various challenges in the context of healthcare, including discrimination, suboptimal physical and mental health outcomes and an elevated risk of mortality. They also endure long waiting times for gender identity clinic appointments. The Bridge at Southwark is a nurse-led transgender primary care service in south east London set up in December 2022. The Bridge clinic, which is the first of its kind in England, offers a novel approach to providing primary care services and gender-affirming care, including bridging hormone prescriptions, to transgender patients. This article explores the current climate of healthcare for transgender people and details the development and running of the clinic.