According to new guidance, the NHS will prescribe gender reassignment hormones to young people as young as 16 at youth gender clinics.
The group’s new guidance on “cross-sex hormones” means the drugs can be given to teenagers as part of gender services for children and young people.
The new guidance is known as Gender Affirming Hormones (GAH) and is aimed at “young people with persistent gender nonconformity”. [or] People who have experienced gender dysphoria since around their 16th birthday, as long as they meet certain eligibility criteria.
The report states that staff “must help individuals understand that there is limited clinical evidence about the benefits and harms of prescribing GAH treatment to children under 16 years of age.” They also state that GAH treatment is an important decision with long-term adaptation. ”
Staff “must help individuals understand that there is limited clinical evidence about the benefits and harms of prescribing GAH treatment to children under 16 years of age.”
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It then states: “NHS England will also consider the recommendations of the independent Cass Review in April 2024 insofar as they relate to this policy document.”
Former health secretary Jackie Doyle-Price criticized the guidance on social media, saying children should not be given cross-sex hormones.
She tweeted: “This type of hormone therapy causes permanent loss of sexual function and should not be given to children for the purpose of gender reassignment.
“There are brave voices speaking out publicly about the lasting effects of cross-sex hormones.
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Former health secretary Jackie Doyle-Price criticized the guidance on social media.
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“Their experience is enough to prohibit these treatments before reaching the age of majority. No child can give informed consent to this treatment.”
This comes a week after the NHS announced it would immediately ban prescribing puberty blockers to under-18s unless they are part of a clinical trial due to start later this year.
The Government said it welcomed the “landmark decision”, adding it would help ensure care is evidence-based and in the “best interests of the child”.
The move follows a public consultation and interim policy on the issue stemming from NHS England’s review of gender identity services for under-18s in 2020.
This comes a week after the NHS announced it would immediately ban prescribing puberty blockers to under-18s.
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The review, led by Dr Hilary Cass, followed a sharp increase in referrals to the Gender Identity Development Service (Gids), run by Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, which It is scheduled to close at the end of the month.
In 2021/22, Gid received over 5,000 referrals, compared to just under 250 a decade ago.
The clinic has come under repeated scrutiny, and in February 2022, Dr. Kass released a report stating that there is a need to move away from a single central clinic and to better support young people. recommended the creation of regional services.
She also pointed to a lack of long-term evidence and data collection about what happens to children and young people prescribed the drug.
