GPs advised not to prescribe trans drugs to under-18s

The Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has emphasised that it is not a general practitioner’s role to give sex-change drugs to children and young people.

In an updated position statement on ‘The role of GPs in transgender care’, the governing body upheld the Cass Review’s recommendations that gender-confused under-18s should receive “holistic care” and be referred to “secondary care paediatric or mental health services” where appropriate.

Although puberty blockers are indefinitely banned in the UK, cross-sex hormones remain available to under-18s through the NHS and private providers.

‘Lack of confidence’

The RCGP noted that “GPs are not trained to have the specialist skills required to assess and provide care to address specific needs related to gender incongruence”, and as such “many GPs will not feel confident or competent” to issue a prescription without “specialist input and advice”.

It concluded: “The RCGP does not consider that the GP role in relation to children and young people would include prescribing gender affirming hormones to address gender incongruence in a patient aged under 18.”

An NHS spokesman stated: “In line with the findings and recommendations of the final Cass Report, NHS England is forming a new clinical policy that will make proposals for the future approach for hormone medication. NHS England will consult with the RCGP and other professional bodies as part of the process for agreeing the new policy.”

‘Heinous’

Earlier this year, the Health Secretary was threatened with a legal challenge if he failed to ban cross-sex hormones for children.

SinclairsLaw, which represented detransitioner and campaigner Keira Bell and two others, wrote to Wes Streeting to demand a ban on the sex-change drugs similar to the puberty blocker ban implemented last December.

Bell, who took the drugs prior to ‘detransitioning’, said sex-swap drugs “warp your being and, particularly for women, cause irreversible effects, changing your physical and social state forever”.

She stated: “It should go without saying that we need to put a stop to this heinous practice, imprisoning young people in a world of suffering, and start providing attentive, holistic support.”