‘New Tavistock’ not pushing kids to take sex-swap drugs

Gender-confused children have not been given new prescriptions for sex-swap drugs by Tavistock’s replacement services, it has been revealed.

Camilla Kingdon, who will chair a new multi-disciplinary team of experts for decision making in cases of hormone prescriptions, said its role in the meantime is to ensure clinicians have been providing a “holistic assessment” of patients.

In contrast, 20 per cent of young people who attended the Tavistock’s Gender Identity Development Service between April 2018 and December 2022 were prescribed cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers, or both.

Mental health

Kingdon explained: “This is not just about endocrinology. It’s about a holistic assessment of a child or young person within the context of their family.

“That means a series of very detailed assessments, looking at the child’s wider physical health, mental health, thinking about the child in the context of their school and so on. It involves psychologists, psychiatrists, paediatricians, clinical nurse specialists, speech therapists, occupational therapists.”

Regional hubs are currently open in London, Liverpool and Bristol and have seen a total of 250 patients. Another centre is set to open in Cambridge, and a further four hubs are planned for the future.

‘Irreversible’

Last month, the Royal College of GPs emphasised that it is not a general practitioner’s role to give cross-sex hormones 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.

SinclairsLaw, which represents detransitioner Keira Bell and two others, has written to the Health Secretary to demand a ban on the sex-change drugs similar to the puberty blocker ban implemented last December.

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