From House of Commons Hansard
Written Answers: 10th March 2005

Department of Health

10 Mar 2005 : Column 1986W

Transsexuals

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether transsexualism is classed as a mental disorder for the purposes of sections 1 and 3 of the National Health Service Act 1977. [218733]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Sections 1 and 3 of the NHS Act 1977 do not refer directly to “mental disorder”, but do require the Secretary of State to provide a health service to secure improvement in physical and mental health and to prevent, diagnose and treat “illness”. “Illness” is defined by section 128 of the Act as including “mental disorder within the meaning of the Mental Health Act 1983”.

Transsexualism is defined in the International Classification of Diseases—tenth edition (ICD-10)—as a mental disorder and it is therefore likely that it would be regarded as a mental disorder for the purposes of the 1983 Act.

The ICD-10 classification reads as follows:

“F64.0 Transsexualism

A desire to live and be accepted as a member of the opposite sex, usually accompanied by a sense of discomfort with, or inappropriateness of, one’s anatomic sex, and a wish to have surgery and hormonal treatment to make one’s body as congruent as possible with one’s preferred sex.”

Guidance on gender dysphoria was included in the national definitions set for specialised services, which suggests that primary care trusts should commission such services collectively. Specialised services for mental health, including services for people with gender dysphoria, are being reviewed by the national director for mental health, Professor Louis Appleby, and a report is due in May.

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