A patient can ask general practitioners to prescribe hormones for gender incongruence before or after specialist involvement. Some patients will already be self-prescribing or may seem highly likely to do so, obtaining hormones online or illicitly.²⁷

The British Medical Association advises GPs that it may be appropriate to issue a bridging prescription to reduce the risk to the patient from unofficially sourced drugs, or for those who may otherwise self-harm or be suicidal. However, this should only be after the doctor has sought the advice of a gender specialist, and the lowest acceptable dose in the circumstances should be prescribed.

GPs are also expected to cooperate with GICs and gender specialists as they would with other specialists. This will involve taking on the prescribing and/or monitoring of drugs used in gender dysphoria, as well as making appropriate referrals. As such, community pharmacists may well be dispensing medicines for gender confirmation and being asked for advice.¹⁵