Experts examine use of gender identity treatment for young people

The working group will make recommendations about the future use of puberty suppressants and cross-sex hormones as part of the next stage of a review of gender identity development services for children and young people.

NHS England introduced a new service specification in 2016 but said it was committed to carrying out a review of gender identity development services and associated policies for 2020.

These nationally commissioned services support young people and their families, providing counselling and psychological support.

In some cases, young people are prescribed puberty suppressants and from around 16, cross-sex hormones.

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The independent group, chaired by former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Dr Hilary Cass, will be made up of 20 members from a range of clinical and academic backgrounds. It will also include members of the public.

NHS England said the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence would also carry out a review of the latest clinical evidence to help inform the working group’s findings.

The review is scheduled to be completed this year.

Dr Cass said: “This is a fast-developing area of medicine with emerging evidence and high public interest.

“I look forward to chairing this independent group, bringing together medical and non-medical experts with a range of perspectives, to make evidence-based recommendations about the future use of these drugs.”

The announcement follows stories which emerged last week claiming that a “landmark case” against the NHS prescribing puberty suppressants to transgender children under 16 had been lodged in the High Court.

National newspaper reports stated that the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the UK’s only GID service for children, was being sued over concerns that young people were being given “experimental treatment” without adequate assessments.

It is alleged a case is being brought against the trust by the mother of a 15-year-old autistic girl who is on the waiting list for treatment at the service.

However, PinkNews, an online newspaper for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, reports that the case "hasn’t yet started”.