MSP quizzes Scot Govt over discredited trans-affirming health care

The Scottish Government has been challenged over NHS Scotland’s “unquestioning affirmative approach to transition”.

At the end of November, during a Holyrood debate, SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson asked Health Minister Maree Todd whether the current clinical model adopted in Scotland to support gender-confused children was fit for purpose.

It was revealed in October that children attending the Sandyford gender clinic in Glasgow have regularly been given puberty-blocking drugs, yet more than a third of them have mental health disorders.

Complex needs

Gibson asked: “Does the minister agree that many young people who present at gender clinics have concomitant complex psychological and mental health needs?

“Once someone is identified as having gender-related distress, other important health issues can be overlooked in favour of an unquestioning affirmative approach to transition.”

The SNP member for Cunninghame North also asked: “What support is available for people who are seeking to detransition? Can the minister share with the chamber a protocol for dealing with that vulnerable patient group?”

Affirmative approach

In response, the Minister claimed that “best practice is expected to be grounded in the principles of realistic medicine”.

She added that such a “framework”, accompanied by “honest and open conversations”, promotes “shared decision making and a personalised approach to care”.

Todd expected individuals who “might decide to halt or reverse aspects of a medical transition” to be “appropriately supported by their clinical team to do so”.

Drugs and surgery

Last month, it emerged that NHS Scotland is planning to fast-track gender-confused people onto irreversible cross-sex hormones and surgeries by ‘removing barriers’ to the drugs and procedures.

According to the Scottish Pathway for Trans Healthcare (SPATH) report, it is not “necessary for trans people to experience severe levels of distress regarding their gender incongruence”, and that “access to hormones and surgeries can act as a prophylactic measure against distress”.

It says “a single opinion is sufficient for referral for surgery”, and while it does say counselling or psychotherapy should offer “non-directive support”, this was undermined by the report’s assertion that this should never be a prerequisite for “gender affirming healthcare”.

Leaked recording

In October, a leaked recording revealed a senior consultant at Sandyford admitting that its methods are not backed by “robust evidence”, with mental assessments based almost entirely on self-diagnosis.

She said: “It’s not a forensic assessment where you’re looking at social work and school and all of those things. You’re basically just going on what they tell you.”

A planned review of the Glasgow clinic is not expected to be completed before the end of next year.

Despite the largest rebellion during the SNP’s 15 years in power, and recent polling confirming the scale of public opposition, the Scottish Government still plans to allow people as young as 16 to choose their own legal sex.