GP convicted for illegal clinic that gave transgender drugs to children
A GP has been convicted of running an illegal transgender clinic, providing hormones to children as young as 12 despite being refused a licence by the NHS regulator.
Dr Helen Webberley, 49, ran the clinic from her home, treating children who wanted to change sex, and charging between £75 and £150 an hour.
She also provided online advice, calling herself “the Gender GP”, prescribing to children and teenagers who had been denied treatment on the NHS.
Dr Webberley’s clinic was last year refused a licence by watchdog Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW), Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates Court heard. But her firm continued to operate between March 2017 and Feb 2018.
Dr Webberley, from Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, insisted she was innocent and warned that closing down her service meant that patients could come to harm.
Russell Davies, defending, said she continued to run the company after being ordered to cease her practice because she did not want to risk suddenly stopping treatments.
He said: “Due to the number of patients under her care she was concerned that the cessation of the website would be harmful. The continuation was never because of financial greed.”
Dr Webberley set up the company in 2014 after working as a GP, initially launching Mywebdoc.com.
Following a “snowballing” of interest on the transgender treatment, she decided to open a new website, Gendergp.com.
Mr Davies said: “Here was a doctor who was providing care, information and advice that was very much needed. But her business was not registered.
“It was never anticipated by Webberley that the registration of the company would be in any way controversial. She didn’t appreciate that the company needed registration until it was pointed out to her. Webberley always followed the international guidelines for transgender care, but what she didn’t do was state how many patients there were, how old they were and what treatment was included.
“It is regrettable that she didn’t provide that information. She didn’t provide it due to confidentiality and that was misplaced.
“She was a very caring practitioner who never developed the company for financial gain. She was only motivated by the care of her patients.”
Webberley was convicted of illegally providing healthcare services after the court ruled that she and her company had broken the Care Standards Act.
District Judge Neil Thomas ordered her to pay a £12,000 fine as well as a £2,000 fine issued to her Gendergp business. Dr Webberley was also told to pay £11,307 costs. Judge Thomas said: “In this case there seems to be a clear refusal to follow the law and that is a significant aggravating factor.
“Webberley was a doctor of considerable experience. The court has to regard this offence as serious.”
Dr Kate Chamberlain, HIW chief executive, welcomed the guilty verdict. She said: “Unregistered healthcare services pose a risk to patient safety as they are not subject to the same level of scrutiny as registered services.”
Webberley said in a statement she was “stunned” and “devastated” by the court’s decision. She said: “The needs of this minority group of people must be recognised. The NHS waiting time of up to four years for a first appointment is unconstitutional.
“Better interim care options must be provided and I urge regulators to take a more collaborative approach.”
‘She was a very caring practitioner who never developed the company for financial gain. She was only motivated by the care of her patients’