Tavistock trust faces ‘ongoing challenges’ over scrapped trans clinic

A TRUST is experiencing “ongoing challenges” as it manages a gender identity services clinic for young people ahead of its closure and replacement with regional services, a health watchdog has said.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said it inspected mental health services for children and young people at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust to ensure the trust’s other services were “continuing to deliver safe and effective care and treatment”.

It was announced last July that the London-based Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) clinic would be shutting down, to be replaced by a regional network.

NHS England said it cannot confirm when the GIDS will close, saying the new regional services need to be ready to take on patients to ensure there is no gap in the provision of care.

An independent review, led by Dr Hilary Cass, was commissioned in September 2020 amid a rise in demand, long waiting times for assessments and “significant external scrutiny” around the GIDS approach and capacity.

The Cass review’s final report is expected towards the end of this year.

The CQC said it did not inspect the GIDS on this occasion, but carried out inspections of the specialist community mental health services for children and young people (Camhs) at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust and the community forensic mental health team at the Portman Clinic in January and February this year.

The CQC said: “The trust has gone through significant change in terms of its senior leadership team. It is also experiencing ongoing challenges with managing the gender identity services for young people during the period before it transfers to new regional services.”

The watchdog’s reports, published today, said the Camhs service “requires improvement” for safety, which is a drop from the previous “good” rating.

Inspectors did not rate the Portman Clinic at this inspection, but the CQC said the overall rating for the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust remains at “good”.

A spokesman for the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust said: “Although our overall rating remains ‘good’, we accept the areas identified for improvement. We are making immediate improvements in the identified areas.”