College confirmed on Friday that College Health Service’s “treatment practices remain unchanged” despite a statement from Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) suggesting the contrary.
The two bodies appear to be in a row over the provision of blood tests to transgender students administering self-medication arising from vague communication between head of College Health Dr David McGrath and TCDSU President Jenny Maguire.
TCDSU last Friday claimed that McGrath had confirmed to the union that College Health would provide blood tests to students “by personal request”, interpreting this to mean that blood tests would be provided for trans students who are self-medicating.
According to TCDSU, trans students have previously been denied this service by College Health, which they label a “shameful practice” and have spent “years of campaigning” to end.
Transgender people who self-administer hormone replacement therapy (HRT) often require regular blood tests as a form of harm reduction to assess an appropriate dosage.
The National Gender Service (NGS), which is widely criticised by trans activists as unfit for purpose, advises GPs not to monitor hormone levels for trans people who source HRT outside the NGS system.
However, in email correspondence seen by Trinity News, McGrath did not explicitly confirm that blood tests would be provided by College Health for this purpose, as the union’s statement has indicated.
In response to a question from Maguire asking “Do you provide blood tests to students through the College GP/health centre service by personal request?” McGrath simply responded “Yes.”
No further clarification was sought by the union before it published its statement.
TCDSU framed this correspondence as an unannounced change in policy from College Health, proclaiming it “a win in our fight for patient-led, informed-consent-based transgender healthcare everywhere”.
However, following the publication of this statement, a College spokesperson wrote in a statement to Trinity News that “treatment policies remain unchanged”.
“The wellbeing of our community is paramount. The College Health service continues to treat students and staff according to the guidelines of the Medical Council.”
In a post to X/Twitter, Maguire accused College of “backpedalling” on “the safety of transgender students”.
In an email to senior College management on Friday evening, she asked why College’s media representative had “contradicted” correspondence from McGrath.
“This is especially damaging to marginalised students who are already incredibly distrustful of institutions”, she added.
College has maintained that no change in policy ever occurred.
