NHS gender identity service for children can’t cope with demand, review finds
The only NHS gender identity service for children in England and Wales is under unsustainable pressure as the demand for the service outstrips capacity, a review has found.
The interim report of the Cass Review, commissioned by NHS England in 2020, recommends that a network of regional hubs be created to provide care and support to young people with gender incongruence or dysphoria, arguing their care is “everyone’s business”.
Led by the paediatrician Hilary Cass, the interim report explains that the significant rise in referrals to the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust in London has resulted in overwhelmed staff and waiting lists of up to two years that leave young people “at considerable risk” of distress and deteriorating mental health.
Last spring, the Care Quality Commission demanded monthly updates on numbers on waiting lists and actions to reduce them in a highly critical report on GIDS.
Differing views and lack of open discussion about the nature of gender incongruence in childhood and adolescence – and whether transition is always the best option – means that patients can experience a “clinician lottery”, says the new review, which carried out extensive interviews with professionals and those with lived experience.
It notes that the clinical approach used by GIDS “has not been subjected to some of the usual control measures” typically applied with new treatments.
Another significant issue raised with the review team was that of “diagnostic overshadowing”, whereby once a young person is identified as having gender-related distress, other complex needs – such as neurodiversity or a mental health problem that would normally be managed by local services – can be overlooked.
Source: The Guardian, 10 March 2022