Cross-border talks on puberty blockers

The Scottish Government is in talks with health officials in England after it was announced children will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers at gender identity clinics south of the Border.

The UK government said it welcomed the “landmark decision”, adding it would help ensure care is based on evidence and is in the “best interests of the child”.

Puberty blockers, which pause the physical changes of puberty such as breast development or facial hair, will now only be available to children as part of clinical research trials.

The NHS England policy document, published yesterdayon tuesday, said :“we have concluded that there is not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness of (puberty blockers) to make the treatment routinely available at this time.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government and NHS Scotland are engaged with NHS England on its planned study into the use of puberty blockers in young people’s gender identity healthcare, and discussions are ongoing to determine what future engagement is appropriate.”

It follows a public consultation on the issue and an interim policy, and comes after NHS England commissioned an independent review in 2020 of gender identity services for children under 18.

That review, led by Dr Hilary Cass, followed a sharp rise in referrals to the Gender Identity Development Service (Gids) run by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, which is closing at the end of March. Dr Cass pointed to a lack of long-term evidence and data collection on what happens to children and young people who are prescribed medication.

In 2021-22, there were over 5,000 referrals to Gids, compared to just under 250 a decade earlier.