Tavistock clinic didn’t need to change, insists its top doctor

THE most senior doctor at the Tavistock’s controversial child gender clinic has insisted that it provided “appropriate” care for patients and suggested it does not need to change.

The Gender Identity Development Service (Gids) is being shut down by the NHS after an independent review, led by Dr Hilary Cass, found it was not safe for children. It will be replaced by two new regional hubs.

Dr Cass, an experienced paediatrician, called for a “fundamentally different” model of care in her report, but did not select any hospitals or put forward any suggestions.

However, Prof Gary Butler, clinical lead for the centre at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, the only hub for transgender-identifying children in England and Wales, has now appeared to criticise the review.

In a speech to hundreds of transgender healthcare clinicians at a conference in Ireland, Prof Butler, who has been given a leading role in reforming Gids, allegedly described Dr Cass’s recommendations as “slightly unusual”, and pointed out that she emphasised the need to provide “developmentally appropriate healthcare for children and young people”.

He then added: “But what on earth are we doing now? It’s exactly what we’re doing at the present time, and what the Gids is doing.”

The comments emerged in a recording obtained by BBC Newsnight of the speech at the conference for the European Professional Association for Transgender Health.

According to Newsnight, Prof Butler, a consultant paediatric endocrinologist at University College London Hospitals, also seemed to accuse Dr Cass of “nepotism” by implying that her previous involvement in two hospitals in the South of England had been a factor in them being chosen to lead the new service.

The final closure of Gids has now been delayed until at least March 2024, though 8,000 young people remain on the soaring waiting list.

Reacting to the ellegations, Prof Butler said: “Some of the comments reported from my presentation are highly selective and I wish to make clear that I fully support Dr Hilary Cass’s recommendations to develop new services for young people experiencing gender dysphoria.”