The 2004 Gender Recognition Act (GRA) makes it a criminal offence to disclose an individual’s transgender history to a third party without their written consent if that individual holds a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).

Patients do not need to show a GRC or birth certificate in order for the GRA 2004 to be in effect, so it is best practice to act as though every trans patient has one. This means always obtaining a trans patient’s written consent before sharing details about their social or medical transition, sometimes also called gender reassignment, with other services or individuals. This includes information such as whether a patient is currently taking hormones or whether they have had any genital surgery, as well as information about previous names or the gender they were given at birth.

Consent should always be obtained before information relating to the patient being trans is shared in referrals and this information should only be shared where it is clinically relevant, e.g. it would be appropriate when referring a trans man for a pelvic ultrasound but not when referring him to ENT.