PATHA's vision for transgender healthcare under the current health reforms

Abstract

Aim: The Aotearoa New Zealand healthcare system does not adequately meet the needs of transgender people. Due to healthcare reforms and increases in funding and awareness of transgender health, the Ministry of Health has met with the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa (PATHA) to discuss ways to improve the healthcare system. We developed a vision for a transgender healthcare document to enable a process for our members to collaborate and to increase transparency about what advice PATHA has provided to the Ministry. Method: Feedback from PATHA’s committees was incorporated into a draft document, which was then sent to all PATHA members for further feedback and collaboration. Results: PATHA proposes improvements to transgender healthcare that are centred around a new transgender health resourcing hub, which should operate according to a Te Tiriti o Waitangi framework, provide national coordination of a distributed model of care, provide resourcing (including education) for primary care and actively work to increase provision and equity of gender affirming surgeries. In order to be effective, the new resourcing hub would utilise peer health navigators, provide education and professional development, promote healing-focussed care and incorporate transgender community leadership and accountability. Conclusions: These improvements would allow for the best practices from existing regional programmes to be implemented throughout the healthcare system. The proposed changes align with the goals of the healthcare reforms to make healthcare for transgender people more equitable, accessible and cohesive.