Sajid Javid to review gender treatment for children

Health Secretary Sajid Javid is to examine what immediate changes can be made to child gender treatment services in England.

This could include changing the law to allow the independent Cass review to access an NHS database of young people who have already received treatment.

It comes ahead of the review’s report, which is due later this year.

This week, Mr Javid said that MPs’ services in this area were too positive and narrow and “bordered on ideology”.

He is believed to be now planning an overhaul of the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) run by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust with clinics in London and Leeds.

The Trust has defended itself, saying that while changes are needed, doctors are already considering the broader physical and mental health of children who are referred there.

The Secretary of Health is considering changing the law to allow GIDS to be reviewed, prompting Dr. Hilary Cass, former President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, prompted access to a database of children treated for GIDS to see if they later regretted using treatments such as B. Puberty blockers. It is unclear how the process of accessing the information would work.

Puberty blockers are powerful drugs that block the effects of sex hormones and are used to delay the onset of puberty. Last year the Court of Appeal upheld the trust’s right to supply the drugs to under-16s if they were deemed capable of consenting.

The Health Minister’s move follows the interim findings of the report by Dr. Cass to GIDS.

She found a lack of expert consensus on what constitutes gender dysphoria, long waiting lists for treatment, and a lack of data on the success of different approaches.

dr Cass also felt that GPs and other non-GIDS staff “felt pressure to take an unconditionally positive approach to children who are gender uncertain,” which overshadows other issues such as poor mental health “.

According to her, the current NHS service needed to be ‘transformed’.

There are two gender identity clinics providing services for children in England and other satellite services offer support.

You see about 2,500 young people each year, less than 10% of whom have access to hormone treatment.

Girls are referred to the service more often than boys.

The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust said “respecting a person’s identity does not preclude exploration”.

“We agree that support should be holistic, based on the best available evidence, and that no assumptions should be made about the right outcome for any particular young person,” it added.