Alice Litman: Inquest to be held into death of transgender woman

Alice Litman had waited nearly three years to discuss transitioning

An inquest is to be held into the death of a transgender woman who took her own life while on an NHS waiting list.

Assistant coroner Sarah Clarke will examine issues relating to the death of Alice Litman, from Brighton, who waited almost three years for gender-affirming healthcare.

Ms Clarke recently held a pre-inquest review.

The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust said it was "deeply saddened" by Ms Litman's death.

Ms Litman was 16 when she told her family she wanted to live as a woman.

She had been referred to the NHS Gender Identity Development Service in August 2019, but was still waiting for an initial assessment when she took her own life at the age of 20.

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Ms Litman's family are hoping her inquest, due to take place in September, will examine the issue of accessibility to NHS treatment for "vulnerable trans people".

They said in a statement: "We believe that Alice died partly because of the inaccessibility of gender-affirming healthcare in the UK.

"We want the inquest to examine this to ensure we can get justice for Alice, and change for all the trans people who are facing the same issues."

Peter and Caroline Litman hope lessons will be learned from Alice's death

Ms Litman's father, Peter, said: "It's not just Alice. It's too late for her.

"There are lots of other young transgender people out there and they need our help."

The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, to which Ms Litman had been referred, said: "We are deeply saddened to learn of the death of a patient who was waiting to be seen at the Gender Identity Clinic, but it is not appropriate to comment while the inquest is ongoing."

This story has been amended from an earlier version to make it more clear.

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