Monash Health is taking many urgent actions to prepare and respond to COVID-19. In line with federal government direction, this includes cancelling elective surgery and redeploying clinicians as appropriate. The redeployment of clinicians will impact some of our mental health services.
The Gender Clinic will initially be placing a three-month pause on:
- All mental health assessments
- Follow up appointments
- Laser treatments, effective immediately.
At this stage the Endocrinology clinic at Monash Medical Centre will continue to operate as usual. Please note that all Endocrinology appointments have been changed to teleconference or phone call. If you need to contact the Endocrinology team please call 03 8572 2514 or send an email to: genderdocs@monashhealth.org
The Gender Clinic recognises that psychological counselling and access to gender-affirming treatments is important to the health and wellbeing of many trans people, including those who are gender diverse and non-binary, and that the pause in clinic operations may cause distress to some clients.
To support clients who are in distress, they remain available, although with a reduced workforce. Distressed clients are encouraged to call on 03 9556 5216 during office hours to speak to a clinician.
Gender Clinic operations will resume once conditions related to COVID-19 have stabilised. They don’t yet know how long this will take, and recognise that this uncertainty may be very unsettling for people undergoing or awaiting assessment. Current clients will be contacted by their Gender Clinic clinician as soon as practicable, and people on the waitlist will be contacted by other staff.
During the pause, the Gender Clinic will not be accepting referrals and adding people to the existing wait-list. Clients on the current waitlist will maintain their position. As an alternative, clients may wish to explore private options and a list of private clinicians is available their website.
A Victoria-wide Trans and Gender Diverse Community Health Service can currently provide fast appointments and dedicated support, including:
- Peer Navigation by a trans and gender diverse health worker,
- Telehealth and in person appointments with GPs, counsellors, psychologists, a psychiatrist, and endocrinologists trained in trans and gender diverse affirmative practice.
- Online facilitated group support
- Access to hormones
To access these services, visit: https://www.yourcommunityhealth.org.au/service- access/trans-and-gender-diverse-health/ or call 03 8458 6756.
These are uncertain times with frequent developments. The Gender Clinic want to acknowledge the impact that events such as these have on a person’s mental health and we strongly encourage you to have a look at the following links which have some very helpful advice on how to care for you mental health over the coming weeks and months.
https://headspace.org.au/young-people/how-to-cope-with-stress-related-to-covid- 19/
