The NHS is closing its gender identity clinic for children and young people at Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust to build a “more sustainable service” by expanding provision.
The NHS said on Thursday that the contract for the gender identity service at the Trust would be ended and instead set up two services run by specialist children’s hospitals in London and the North West by spring 2023.
The final number is yet to be decided, but seven or eight services could be introduced.
It follows the recommendations of Dr Hilary Cass, who led an independent review of gender identity services for children and young people.
She said there is a need to move away from the single provider model and instead create regional services to better meet patient needs.
The trust, which runs clinics in London, Leeds and Bristol, is believed to give hormone treatment to around 200 of the thousands of children it visits each year.
Referred users have risen sharply over the past decade, with more than 5,000 in 2021-22, compared to less than 250 in 2011-12.
An interim report of the Cass Review commissioned by NHS England in 2020 was published in March.
In it, Dr Kass wrote: “It is becoming increasingly clear that a specialist provider model is not a safe or viable long-term option, given concerns about a lack of peer review and the ability to meet growing demand.”
He warns that many of those referred have complex needs, but once identified as suffering from gender distress, other healthcare issues “can sometimes be overlooked”.
It also said that some healthcare workers feel under pressure to adopt an “unquestionably positive approach” and were advised to remain open and explore the patient’s experience and options.
A London-based service will be led by Great Ormond Street Hospital and Evelina London Children’s Hospital, with South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust providing specialist mental health support.
A second service in the North West will be run by Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, with both trusts providing specialist mental health services.
They will take clinical responsibility and management of all GIDS patients – including those on the waiting list.
A spokeswoman for the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust said: “The trust supports the need to establish a more sustainable model of care for this patient group, given the significant increase in referrals.
“The expertise found within the current GIDS service will be critical to the success of these early adoption services and ensuring continuity of care for patients.
“We will work closely with partners and commissioners to ensure a smooth transition to the new delivery model.
“Over the past few years, our staff at GIDS have worked tirelessly and under intense scrutiny in a difficult climate.
“We are proud of them and grateful for their tireless focus on the patient and their outstanding efforts.”
Former Equality Secretary and Tory leadership contender Kemi Badenoch described the decision as “profound”.
She tweeted that she had heard “personal accounts of destroyed childhoods protecting whistleblower clinicians from endless harassment by activists on Twitter.”
Ms Badenoch said women who had “serious concerns” had suffered “smearing”. […] like trowels and trotters’.
TERF refers to a trans-exclusionary radical feminist who claims to be a feminist who excludes the rights of transgender women from their support for women’s rights.
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