Number of children seeking gender identity treatment has risen by two-thirds in less than two years as it emerges 8,000 are on waiting list for NHS clinic
- Nearly 8,000 children waiting for NHS gender identity treatment, figures show
- Number of under-18s on waiting lists has risen 67 per cent in less than two years
- Comes amid growing concern from politicians, parents and medical experts
- The youngsters had been due to have an appointment at the Tavistock Centre
Nearly 8,000 children are on the waiting list for NHS gender identity treatment, official figures have revealed.
The number is a rise of more than two-thirds (67 per cent) in less than two years and comes amid growing concerns from medical experts, parents and politicians.
The youngsters, who were under-18, were in line for an appointment at a controversial NHS clinic after they sought professional help.
They were due to have a first appointment with the Tavistock Clinic’s Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), which is being closed down in the wake of a damning review.
The number of English children in line for gender identity treatment was disclosed with little fanfare by the NHS as it consulted on plans to replace the Tavistock GIDS clinic
Keira Bell, who underwent a double mastectomy, asked the High Court to rule on whether children should receive puberty blockers
Keira Bell took on the Tavistock clinic in a landmark court case – and won.
Ms Bell was a ‘very mentally ill’ teenage girl when she was referred to the Tavistock’s gender identity service after saying she thought she was a boy.
She was given drugs to pause her development before she realised – six years later and after a double mastectomy – that she wanted to detransition.
In 2020 Ms Bell, originally from Letchworth in Hertfordshire, asked the High Court to rule on whether children should receive puberty blockers.
She alleged that the information provided by the Tavistock, the only NHS clinic in England and Wales which treated children with gender dysphoria, was not adequate, and said youngsters were not able to give informed consent.
The High Court effectively banned the use of puberty blockers for under-16s. The clinic has since been ordered to close.
Ms Bell has said she was a ‘classic tomboy’ as a youngster, but struggled when she began to go through puberty. She was referred to the Tavistock but five years after beginning her medical transition, she began to live as a woman.
In 2021, Ms Bell said: ‘I was an unhappy girl who needed help. Instead, I was treated like an experiment.’
Those waiting to be seen will now be sent to two replacement centres that will open in the spring.
Last night, the role of social media was being questioned in the rise of referrals.
Stephanie Davies-Arai, director of campaign group Transgender Trend, told the Mail: ‘These figures support the concern that social contagion is responsible for large numbers of teenagers who are suddenly identifying as trans and that contagion is now spread very quickly through social media platforms.’
The number of English children in line for gender identity treatment was disclosed with little fanfare by the NHS as it consulted on plans to replace the Tavistock GIDS clinic after a landmark review by Dr Hilary Cass in March found it was not ‘safe or viable’ to have a single provider.
She said patients were left in ‘considerable distress’ as the Tavistock struggled with surging demand, and also raised concern about the possible effects of puberty-blocking drugs on young brains after they were handed out to children as young as ten.
The impact assessment showed there were 1,279 under-17s ‘under the care of GIDS’ in June this year, along with another 255 older teenagers who were about to be transferred to an adult gender dysphoria clinic.
It said there were 7,696 ‘children and young people on the waiting list for GIDS for a first appointment’ – far more than the 4,600 found when the CQC watchdog inspected the Tavistock in October 2020.
The Tavistock said it is still booking appointments for those at the top of its waiting list.
And another 5,200 children and young people per year ‘may be referred to one of the early adopter services’ run by the country’s leading children’s hospitals that will replace the GIDS clinic in the spring.
One will be in London, led by Great Ormond Street and Evelina, and the other in the North West, led by Alder Hey in Liverpool and the Royal Manchester.
Full details will be published in the new year.
The cohort of patients is likely to include many of those on the existing waiting list, who will be assessed but may not be put on puberty-blockers as the new service will put a greater emphasis on mental health support.
Child safety campaigners took heart earlier this month when the Charity Commission launched a statutory inquiry into Mermaids, a transgender youth support organisation that had been accused of offering chest-binders to teenage girls against their parents’ wishes.
Attention has now turned to Scotland where an SNP Bill, passed by Holyrood last week, will allow anyone as young as 16 to change their legal sex simply by signing a declaration – removing the need for a medical diagnosis or to live for two years in their new gender.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack is considering issuing a legal order to stop the reforms from becoming law.
An NHS spokesman said: ‘NHS England is expanding healthcare services for young people with gender dysphoria, and is working with existing and new providers to establish two new services, with up to seven additional services to follow across England once the Cass Review has issued further advice.’
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