NHS sets out 'safer' child gender services model

Six new regional centres created to support under 18s struggling with their gender identity will open over the next two years, NHS England has confirmed.

They will join two existing clinics, as part of an overhaul of gender services for children and young people.

The emphasis will be on providing a more holistic approach, with a particular focus on supporting mental health and those with conditions such as autism.

It follows a ban earlier this year on the routine prescription of puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria. The changes come in response to a landmark review published in April, which was critical of the way young people had been supported.

NHS England has also announced details of how the clinics will work.

GPs will no longer be able to refer patients directly. Instead, referrals will have to come via children and young people’s mental health services and hospital child health specialists.

The move is designed to ensure the wider needs of these children are assessed before they are sent to a specialist centre, and follows a sharp rise in referrals in recent years.

NHS England medical director Prof Stephen Powis said the new system was about establishing a “fundamentally different and safer model of care for children and young people”.

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Source: BBC News, 7 August 2024