The Scottish Government has agreed to adopt many of the Cass Review’s recommendations for children’s gender services.
Public Health Minister Jenni Minto announced that work is underway to implement the Chief Medical Officer’s report on the Cass Review’s implications for Scotland, which advised that gender-confused children should not be given puberty blockers without further clinical trials.
Glasgow’s Sandyford clinic had already stopped accepting self-referrals from gender-confused children, but going forward young people will be seen under a regional model in paediatric clinical settings across Scotland.
Autism
New National Standards for Gender Identity Healthcare highlight that gender-confused young people “experience higher rates of mental health issues, adverse childhood events” and neurodivergence.
The standards specify that child patients should receive a “holistic initial assessment” of all their needs, including screening for autism where appropriate.
Minto stated: “I am determined the young people using these services, and their families, are our priority and will be at the heart of all our discussions about how this care is provided.”
‘Harm reduction’
But under new guidance for adult gender identity services, the Scottish Government claimed that clinicians should consider giving cross-sex hormones to those on waiting lists who have obtained the drugs from illegal suppliers.
It stated: “Measures to support people in such circumstances, based upon the principles of harm reduction, are encouraged.”
NHS Education for Scotland noted that prescribing cross-sex hormones is “primarily based upon someone’s self report”, and there is “no guarantee that endocrine treatment will offer benefit to them, or to the extent desired”.
Record number of gender-confused people apply to ‘change sex’