Atkins vows to close loopholes over puberty blockers

The Health Secretary has pledged to close any loopholes which could result in online providers prescribing puberty blockers to children as she hit out at the “morally and medically reprehensible” practice.

Victoria Atkins indicated the Government could legislate to ban young people accessing prescriptions from private clinics and online.

The MP insisted “nothing is off the table” when it comes to ensuring private and online providers cannot “get around the rules” following publication of the long-awaited Cass Review into children’s gender services in the NHS.

The report concluded that children had been let down by a lack of research on the use of puberty blockers.

In her review, published last week, Dr Hilary

Cass said “no clinician should prescribe outside their competence, nor should GPs be expected to enter into a shared care arrangement with a private provider, particularly if that private provider is acting outside NHS guidance”.

In March, NHS England confirmed children will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers at gender identity clinics outside clinical research trials, and following the Cass Review the health service said it had agreed to review the use of masculinising or feminising hormones for children from the age of 16.

Ms Atkins (inset) said she was concerned “clinicians who subscribe to gender ideology will try to use private providers to get around the rules”.

The Health Secretary also confirmed that all seven adult gender clinics – six of which had refused to take part in research alongside the Cass Review – had since agreed to “fully co-operate”.