‘Remove barriers to sex-swap surgeries’, says NHS Scotland report

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”.

‘Sex matters’

The report goes on to recommend that there should be a “general move away from gendered healthcare”.

Louise Irvine, a retired GP and co-chairwoman of the Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender, said it is not possible to “move entirely away from sexed healthcare, because everyone has a biological sex, even if they take additional hormones to affirm or appear differently”.

For Women Scotland’s Susan Smith said: “Gender, including non-binary identities, are an irrelevance in medicine, but sex matters.”

‘Very troubling’

The SPATH report draws heavily on recommendations made by the controversial World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).

Consultant psychiatrist Dr David Bell said it is a “complete fiction” that WPATH is the authority on such matters and it is “very troubling” that NHS Scotland treats it as such.

Dr Bell said: “The attention of ministers seems to be more captured by groups representing an ideological movement, than those that represent an objective scientific approach to these matters, such as NHS England and the Cass Review.”

He added: “We have an ethical duty towards young people and adults not to treat things at face value. That is something that is completely incompatible with a proper clinical approach.”

Gender self-ID

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.

So-called concessions to the gender self-ID Bill that are being considered by the Scottish Government “barely scratch the surface” of its problems, The Christian Institute’s Ciarán Kelly has warned.

He said: “Dangerously speeding up the ‘sex swap’ process and replacing medical diagnosis with self-declaration will tragically push even more gender-confused young people onto the transition conveyor belt. These Government-backed amendments are being portrayed as ‘concessions’ but in fact are little more than window dressing.”