Statement on Recruitment of HSE Clinical Lead for Gender Healthcare

Given the recent announcement that the Health Service Executive (HSE) is due to open a recruitment process to appoint a new clinical lead for gender healthcare, PATHI is calling for service user engagement in this process.

As the HSE’s Better Together roadmap for patient engagement sets out, staff recruitment is an appropriate example of how “patients, healthcare staff, healthcare planners and organisations to work in equal partnership”. It is recognised that involving service users in staff recruitment can enhance trust, credibility, transparency, and the assessment of communication skills, attitudes and values.

Involving the trans community in the recruitment process to appoint a new clinical lead for gender healthcare is therefore an opportunity to both increase the chances of selecting the best candidate and to build trust between the HSE and the trans community. We would also encourage those involved in this recruitment process to select on the basis of competency in gender healthcare rather than seniority and accordingly invite applications from both non-consultants and consultants.

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