Today I did trans awareness training at Southmead Hospital in Bristol. Tomorrow I will be in Exeter doing the same thing for Healthwatch Devon. It is great to be able to do this stuff, but the classes are very small in comparison to the number of people who work for the NHS. Last month we had to cancel a course in Frome for Heathwatch Somerset because only one person signed up. Right now I am only reaching the people who want to learn, not those who need to learn.

The biggest need for training is for GPs, but reaching them is very difficult. Like everyone else in the NHS, they are constantly being asked to do more with less resources. Training is at the bottom of their list of priorities. Besides, many of them are old and set in their ways. I’m therefore concentrating on trainee doctors. I did some work with Bristol University Medical School last year, and am talking to them about doing more this year.

That means I reach a few hundred trainee doctors each year, which is great, but it is only one school. Others may not be so forward thinking. We need to keep up pressure on the General Medical Council to make this sort of thing mandatory. I recently became aware of this petition about that very subject, and am delighted to see that it now has over 30,000 signatures. Please consider signing it, and share it widely.