Revision of the Quality Standard for Transgender Care in the Netherlands
The 2019 Quality Standard for Somatic Transgender Care describes what is considered good somatic transgender care in the Netherlands. The evaluation that the minister sent to the House of Representatives on 5 April 2024 showed that parts of the standard were no longer up to date. The revision began on 1 December 2023, at the request of the Dutch Association of Internists and with the support of the Knowledge Institute of the Federation of Medical Specialists.
The main article on this subject is Dutch guidelines for transgender care.
Timeline
The final delivery date has been postponed several times: initially from 1 August 2023 to 30 September 2025, and in May 2026 to 30 September 2027. The National Health Care Institute cites the longer-than-expected development process as the reason, partly due to the time required for the evaluation and the limited availability of working group members.
What the evaluation found
In 2021, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport commissioned the evaluation through ZonMw. It was conducted by the Knowledge Institute of the Federation of Medical Specialists. The 2019 standard was preceded by a two-and-a-half-year development process, prompted at the time by the growing number of people seeking help and the lack of standards for waiting times. According to the evaluation, new scientific literature and international guidelines have been published since 2019, including version 8 of the Standards of Care. The report recommends adapting the modules on the treatment of children and adolescents, hormone therapy, surgery, fertility preservation and pregnancy to the Dutch context. It also identifies organisational bottlenecks: indications are not always accepted between institutions, and providers struggle with reimbursement. The pressure on capacity is also evident from the archived item on the Amsterdam UMC gender clinic.
Supervision by the National Health Care Institute
The standard has been included on the National Health Care Institute’s Multi-Year Agenda since 2021, which only lists priority topics. In its letter of 18 May 2026, the National Health Care Institute writes that social and political pressure is high and that the group of experts in transgender care is small and heavily burdened. The National Health Care Institute consults with the applicant before the internal consultation phase, before the external consultation phase and before the authorisation phase. If the deadline appears unlikely to be met, the National Health Care Institute is considering taking over control and asking the Quality Council to develop the standard. Until the new version is available, the professional associations will continue to work with the latest guidelines, according to the minister. The political background is outlined in the parliamentary letter on transgender care for minors; the implications for minors are discussed under young people.
Why it is included in this archive
The standard sets the conditions for medical treatment, including for minors. On 30 June 2026, the Health Council advised strengthening the requirements for careful diagnosis, indication-setting and informed consent as part of the revision. This makes the revision an important part of developments in the Netherlands.