A TRANSSEXUAL has won her fight to have breast implants paid for by the NHS.

Miranda Lee, 40, formerly Raymond Harwood, had a partial sex change last year at Charing Cross Hospital, London.

But afterwards she was told there was no money available for the breast augmentation needed to complete her transformation.

Miss Lee, from Southend, said the unexpected news the procedure would now go ahead had saved her life.

She added: “Since I found out, friends have said I’m a lot happier and more relaxed.

“I got a letter two days before Christmas confirming I would get the breast augmentation done.

“I’ve got an appointment to see a consultant at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, in January.

“Now I can get on with the rest of my life and stop spending the day thinking about killing myself.”

In June, Miss Lee told the Echo the NHS was aware of the high number of suicides among people who did not have their gender change operations completed.

Unemployed Miss Lee, who has lived as a woman for two years, underwent £60,000 worth of surgery in July 2009, paid for by a NHS budget set aside for specialist commissions.

In June this year, she was granted legal aid to fight for the latest surgery and said she used £10,000 of public money to win her fight.

The legal battle which ensued led to her case being reviewed earlier this month.

Dr Danny Showell, a consultant at NHS South East Essex, said with the support of a doctor, patients can apply for individual funding if the treatment they want is not usually funded by the NHS.

He said the application was then reviewed by a panel, made up of doctors, managers and laypeople, who consider “all aspects”, and decide whether or not the case is “exceptional”.

Key aspects must be the patient being significantly different to others wanting the treatment and therefore more likely to significantly gain from having it.

Mr Showell said: “While we would never disclose individual patient details, the panel was satisfied Miranda’s case was exceptional and on this basis funding was granted for this procedure.”