The deadly toll of the trans healthcare crisis: 21 suicides and over 600 other deaths

CW: Trans+ suicide and preventable deaths
Exclusive | TL;DR: QueerAF can reveal figures that show 618 people have died while under the care of an NHS gender clinic, at least 21 by suicide. The Freedom of Information requests also expose that while some NHS gender clinics are counting their trans patients who die, others are not – and the clinics that are counting are not doing so in a uniform way. This means that the numbers make for a fragmented dataset, which likely represents only a fraction of the true picture. By Ludovic Parsons and Lee Clarke.

At least 21 trans patients died by suicide while under the care of an NHS gender clinic, out of more than 618 people who have died overall, QueerAF can reveal.

The figures, obtained by QueerAF through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, show that at least 21 people died by suicide or suspected suicide. This figure includes at least 10 trans patients of the Tavistock and Portman NHS gender clinic who died by suicide or suspected suicide since 2017, six patients of the Northern Region Gender Dysphoria Service since 2012, and five patients of Sheffield's gender clinic since 2018.

On top of these 21 suicides, the figures show that between one and five patients on the waiting list for a first appointment at Belfast's gender clinic died by suicide in 2021, and between one and five patients of the Welsh Gender Service died by suicide between 2019 and 2025.

No other NHS gender clinics were able to provide figures about the number of patients who died by suicide, either because they don't hold the data, because they do not record the cause of death of patients under their care, or because the figures are so low that they are exempt from disclosure due to the risk of identifying individuals. 

With only three gender clinics of the 13 we asked disclosing discrete patient suicide figures, this means the true number of trans patients dying by suicide is likely to be higher. 

This data provides new information about trans patients of gender clinics dying by suicide at a time when this issue is contested by the UK government, which strongly refuted in the commissioned Appleby Review that there has been a rise in the number of suicides of young trans people in the wake of restrictions on gender-affirming healthcare. 

An investigation by QueerAF and Good Law Project previously found that trans people in the UK are dying by suicide more than the general population - QueerAF

The overall number of patients who died, 618, is also likely to be higher, because two gender clinics returned no data about patient deaths and one did not respond at all, while others provided figures such as "less than five" deaths per year that QueerAF has not included in the overall number. 

Last year, with patients waiting years or even decades for treatment at many gender clinics – waiting times that even the government described as "staggering" – former Health Secretary Wes Streeting rolled out a new wellbeing pilot offering clinical and emotional support to those waiting for care - Department of Health and Social Care

While the new data stretches back to 2009, most of the deaths are from more recent years. However, a year-by-year comparison of the overall number of deaths is not possible to make because some gender clinics provided figures for deaths per year, while others provided total figures for seemingly arbitrary date ranges that do not correlate with other gender clinic date ranges. 

These deaths represent a fraction of the total, as some NHS gender clinics do not keep count of their trans patients who die, while others that do collect this information record the data in a fragmented and inconsistent way.  

NHS England has been approached for comment.

Trans people are dying of suicide more than the general UK population, new investigation reveals

Despite warning signs that trans people are dying of suicide more than the general UK population, official data remains inadequate – while rights and healthcare rollbacks continue

QueerAFLudovic Parsons

Analysis: We don't know what we don't know

With waiting lists for first appointments at NHS gender clinics averaging 25 years across the UK, and a wealth of research emphasising the life-changing and life-saving benefits of gender-affirming healthcare, understanding how many patients drop out of the UK's trans healthcare system because they've died is vital to addressing the trans healthcare crisis - QueerAF

Unsurprisingly, the NHS and government are not interested in understanding – or even counting – the deaths of Trans+ people.

We've seen this disinterest before – when QueerAF and What The Trans?! published the Gender Clinic Files last year, our investigation was backed by dozens of FOIs and provided a far more accurate picture of the system than the then Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, had. Yet despite that reporting being referenced in Parliament, in the Scottish election campaign and by international figures, no changes were made, and neither the government nor the NHS responded.

With these new figures, we now know that hundreds of Trans+ people have died under the care of NHS gender clinics, 21 of them by suicide or suspected suicide.

We also know, from data published in last year's Gender Clinic Files investigation, that two-thirds of adults waiting for a first appointment at an NHS gender clinic are aged 25 and under - QueerAF

In these new figures, some NHS gender clinics were able to break down how many of the patients who died were waiting for a first appointment, how many were receiving treatment, and, in two cases, how many patients died shortly after being discharged by the gender clinic. Some clinics count how many of the trans people under their care die each year, including the number who died by suicide. 

While the data collection is too inconsistent for us to analyse the information, this shows us that it is possible to collect detailed, useful data about trans patients of gender clinics.

The absence of high-quality, nationally consistent data about the deaths and suicides of NHS gender clinic patients prevents the relationship between waiting times for gender-affirming healthcare and these 618 deaths from being fully understood. Until we have a complete picture of the impacts of the trans healthcare crisis, it will be harder to prevent future deaths.

Suicide is preventable; without better data, suicide prevention is being undermined

The government responded to our reporting of increasing preventable deaths and suicides in Trans+ people, by saying that our reporting – not the systemic issues that government is responsible for – was creating risk of more deaths.

We were steadfast then, and even more so now. Spurred on by a report used by Wes Streeting as evidence of the safety of Puberty Blocker bans, our latest investigation begs big questions.

It took the work of two investigative journalists, and a series of FOIs to build this far-from-complete picture. As ever – these upsetting numbers are just the tip of the iceberg.

It builds on reporting in this space we've been doing since 2024 – we're on the case, and not letting this story go. These FOIs suggested much more and require much more investigation. For now we've ensured that we've only published what is indisputably clear.

But we need your help to investigate further and deliver the accountability journalism that is critical to bringing to light the information that should guide the fight ahead. It's been a huge investment, and we have no intention of backing away.

If you value the journalism we're doing, alongside our investment in a new generation of LGBTQIA+ creatives, please upgrade today.