Javid to launch urgent inquiry into children’s gender treatment

The health secretary, Sajid Javid, is preparing to launch an urgent inquiry as he believes children are wrongly being given gender hormone treatment by the NHS.

Javid is also said to be planning an overhaul of how health practitioners deal with children who question their gender identity. Thus far, the Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust’s clinics in Bristol, Leeds and London are the only clinics dealing with such circumstances.

The trust has been criticised for rushing children into treatment that would so profoundly alter their life at such a young age, and have also faced criticisms of hastily prescribing puberty blockers. Of 2,500 children seen by the trust, 200 access hormones, with referrals up 50-fold over the last 10 years.

Indeed, the Court of Appeal in 2021 upheld the right of the trust to prescribe such medication to children in cases where the child is deemed capable of consenting. Despite this, a review into the NHS’ gender identity services for children led by Hilary Cass found last month that children were subject to a “lottery” of care due to the lack of expert agreement about the very nature of the treatment.

According to The Times, Javid is alarmed that some non-specialist staff are under pressure to treat children with an “unquestioning affirmative approach”, adding that other mental health issues in children can be “overshadowed” in cases where gender is raised. An ally of Javid said:

“This has been a growing issue for years and it’s clear we’re not taking this seriously enough. If you look at Hilary Cass’s interim report, the findings are deeply concerning and it’s clear from that report that we’re failing children.

That overly affirmative approach where people just accept what a child says, almost automatically, and then start talking about things like puberty blockers — that’s not in the interest of the child at all.”

The paper also noted that Javid is “understood to have likened political sensitivities over gender dysphoria to the fears of racism in Rotherham over grooming gangs”, adding that there is a “militant lobby” who are avoiding the “toxic” debate. Javid said in the House of Commons this week that “the NHS services in this area are… bordering on ideological”.

The Tavistock & Portman trust, however, claims its doctors already take all the broad social issues into account, though it “accepts the need for changes”. Javid is reportedly looking into giving Cass access to databases that would highlight exactly how many children took puberty blockers and hormones and then later regretted it. A spokesperson for the trust said:

“Being respectful of someone’s identity does not preclude exploration. We agree that support should be holistic, based on the best available evidence, and that no assumptions should be made about the right outcome for any given young person.”

A spokesperson from Stonewall said:

“What is important is that children and young people are listened to and that they are at the heart of decision-making, supported by their families and clinicians. These treatments must be based on the best possible data, and draw from global medical expertise and consensus rather than rhetoric or fearmongering. The Cass review is an in-depth, expert-led review that is already well under way and due to report later in the year, and so an additional review would be an unnecessary, kneejerk intervention.”