CSP releases professional guidance on treating transgender patients

Last year we began work to develop professional guidance to support members who interact with transgender service users and yet may have little understanding of the healthcare-focused issues faced by transgender people.  

CSP director Ash James said:

Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity, professionalism and compassion which is informed by the best evidence. We set out here to provide a guidance document for all of the profession to broaden their understanding and provide some key principles in how to approach the treatment of transgender patients.

To oversee the work, the CSP professional committee established a working group to develop a useful guidance document for all members, not only those working in specialist pelvic health roles.  

The guidance both raises awareness of the healthcare issues that transgender people face and supports CSP members who interact with this patient group.  

Working group member Miti Rach, who is a pelvic obstetric gynaecological physiotherapy and pelvic health clinical lead physio, and a non-medical independent prescriber, at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Trust, described the important input that stakeholders had in developing this guidance and why it is important for all CSP members:

It is important for professionals to learn from people with lived experience because they can provide input of the extremely unique and subjective experiences of the community that needs to be incorporated into the best practice. 

Shannon Pinnington, specialist neuro physio at Northern Care Alliance, was a member of the working group and a previous member of the CSP LGBTQIA+ network committee.

Sharing their aspirations for the guidance, they said:

By making our members more understanding of how to appropriately work with gender-diverse patients, I hope that we will improve the experience of this group which already faces so many barriers in healthcare. My hope is that we will be able to continue to build on this to work towards increased equity within our profession. We should all be aware of the information within this guidance, no matter our perceived patient population. 

A patient's experience of healthcare and its outcomes are often reliant on the individual approach that our members take. By using this guidance physios can apply approaches now, or in the future, when providing physiotherapy services to transgender people with the need for a person-centred approach to physiotherapy care at the core.  

If you have any questions about the guidance please contact us.

Join us at 6pm on 19 November for a Transgender awareness and allyship member webinar. Members who attend can expect to gain a deeper understanding and insight into transgender discrimination in the workplace, the role of networks and workplace representatives, and learn more about the professional guidance that the CSP has produced to guide you in working with transgender people in physiotherapy practice.