NHS England confirmed gender identity clinics in the country will no longer prescribe puberty blockers to children.

“Puberty suppressing hormones (PSH) are not available as a routine commissioning treatment option for treatment of children and young people who have gender incongruence / gender dysphoria,” NHS England published on its website.

The decision only affects England, not Scotland or Northern Ireland.

From Sky News:

It follows a public consultation on the issue and an interim policy, and comes after NHS England commissioned an independent review of gender identity services for children under 18 in 2020.

The review followed a sharp rise in referrals to the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) – a specialised service for young people who experience difficulties in the development of their gender identity – run by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, which is closing at the end of March following repeated scrutiny.

In 2021/22, there were more than 5,000 referrals to GIDS, compared to just under 250 a decade earlier.

Dr. Hillary Cass led the independent review of the services for those under 18. She found that GIDS did not gather “routine and consistent data.” Therefore, GIDS could not “accurately track the outcomes and pathways that children and young people take through the service.”

Cass wrote in her March report, “It has become increasingly clear that a single specialist provider model is not a safe or viable long-term option, in view of concerns about lack of peer review and the ability to respond to the increasing demand.”

Cass also said that once the clinic diagnosed the person with “gender-related distress, other healthcare issues ‘can sometimes be overlooked.’”

BREAKING: Children will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers at gender identity clinics, NHS England has confirmed.https://t.co/TjX9ErOK5s pic.twitter.com/mvXgJ7chaC

— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 12, 2024

DONATE

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.