NHS gender care delays ‘contributed’ to trans woman killing herself, coroner says

Alice Litman had been waiting more than three years to receive gender-affirming healthcare when she died in May 2022

Lengthy waiting lists and significant barriers that prevent transgender people accessing gender-affirming care in the UK contributed to a decline in the mental health of a young trans woman who killed herself, a coroner has concluded.

Sarah Clarke, the assistant coroner for West Sussex, Brighton and Hove, on Friday delivered a narrative verdict at the end of the inquest into Alice Litman, 20, who had been waiting to receive gender-affirming healthcare for more than three years when she died in Brighton in May 2022.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org