Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament on 18 September 2019.
The minister will be aware of a BBC report last week about the extremely long wait for treatment that trans people, in particular, face before they can even begin hormone therapy. The minister might also be aware that the First Minister, speaking at an event in Parliament last week, made it clear that she recognises that the situation in Scotland is not what it should be and that significant improvement is needed. I hope that the minister will agree with that and with the view of the Scottish Trans Alliance that having some people wait two years for a first appointment is unacceptable and that huge progress could be achieved with a relatively small increase in the resources that are spent in this area.