Struck-off GP gave children ‘safety risk’ trans medicine
A GP struck off for running an illegal transgender clinic has been dispensing reassignment medication to children that posed a risk to them, an investigation has found.
Clear Chemist, a pharmacy that arranged home deliveries of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for transgender children which bypassed NHS safeguards, has been found to have “system-wide failures” by its regulator.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPHC), the industry watchdog, issued an “improvement notice” to the company yesterday, requiring it to take measures to rectify failures identified following inspection. The inspectors found “serious system-wide failures in the governance and management of risk at the pharmacy, and a lack of safeguarding, which presents a risk to patient safety”.
Clear Chemist, based in Aintree, Merseyside, offered “quick, discreet delivery” to patients’ homes. It dispensed medication to children using online prescriptions issued by an overseas clinic that is not subject to British regulatory requirements.
The prescriptions were from Gendergp, a firm founded by Helen Webberley, who was fined in 2018 for running an unlicensed transgender clinic in Wales. She was later suspended by the General Medical Council.
In response to the Clear Chemist investigation, Dr Webberley said: “This is another example of limitations on the care options available to trans individuals. The restrictions put in place are not standard for a cisgender patient cohort. The risks to this ‘vulnerable’ group are due to the lack of care options available, not because of a pharmacy dispensing legitimate prescription medication to trans patients, under the strict guidance of the gender specialists at Gendergp.”
A spokesman for Clear Chemist said it has disputed the contents of the improvement notice, “the culmination of which could wrongly impact the transgender community”. “We feel it has been premature to issue a press release referring to the notice when concerns have been raised as to its accuracy,” the spokesman added.
Duncan Rudkin, chief executive of the GPHC, said: “We have not asked the pharmacy to stop supplying medicines to patients undergoing treatment for gender dysphoria. We have directed the pharmacy to make improvements to make sure people receive medicines that are safe and effective. Our inspectors will continue to work with the superintendent pharmacist to make the improvements needed.”