Gender clinic warned over puberty drugs 15 years ago

A CLINIC treating transgender children failed to implement recommendations from 15 years ago about the use of puberty blockers, an investigation has found.

Last year staff at the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) raised serious safeguarding issues regarding the use of the inhibitors and the speed at which some young people were being referred for treatment.

The NHS now recognises that little is known about their long- term side effects. However, BBC’S Newsnight claims to have obtained a copy of an internal review, conducted in 2005, which recommended a period of explorative therapy before prescribing puberty blockers. It also found that some clinicians felt pressured to refer patients for the treatment too quickly.

But the Tavistock and Portman Foundation Trust, which runs England’s only children’s NHS gender clinic, said the report was “no longer relevant to the circumstances and issues faced by the GIDS service today”.

The review was carried out by the trust’s then medical director, adult psychiatrist Dr David Taylor. He told the BBC it was unclear why some of his suggestions were not implemented, but he said it could be that demand for the service was “greater than the capacity of the unit to cope” due to society’s shifting attitudes towards gender identity.

Last month the NHS announced Dr Hilary Cass would conduct an independent review into gender identity services for young people which the trust welcomed and said it “hoped it would lead to better and quicker access to support for these young people”.