NHS England has stated that children will no longer be regularly provided puberty blockers at gender identity clinics.
A review found “not enough evidence” that they are safe or beneficial, prompting the decision.
Puberty blockers, which slow down the physical changes associated with puberty, will henceforth only be accessible for research purposes.
It comes only weeks before an independent assessment of gender identity services in England is set to be released.
Dr. Hilary Cass’s interim review report, released in 2022, previously highlighted “gaps in evidence” around the medications and advocated for a shift in the approach of therapy for children experiencing gender-related discomfort.
Dr. Cass’ study comes after a dramatic surge in referrals to the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust’s Gender Identity Development Service (Gids), which has grown from 250 per year to over 5,000 by 2022.
Puberty-suppressing hormones, often known as puberty blockers, function by reducing the production of hormones that produce puberty. They are frequently provided to children who are questioning their gender to prevent bodily changes such as breast growth or facial hair.
The NHS now prescribes puberty blockers to fewer than 100 young kids in England. They will be allowed to continue their treatments.
NHS England undertook a public consultation on their use and issued an interim policy last year stating that they should only be supplied as part of research studies or in “exceptional circumstances.”.
The BBC believes that the new policy, announced on Tuesday, would prohibit them from being administered “routinely” outside of a research study, although individual practitioners can still ask to have the medications financed for patients on a case-by-case basis.
Gids is scheduled to close at the end of March. Two new NHS facilities in London and Liverpool are scheduled to launch in early April, followed by a number of regional specialized centres over the next two years.
Health Minister Maria Caulfield said, “We have always been clear that children’s safety and well-being come first; therefore, we applaud the NHS’s groundbreaking decision.
The consultation on the future of gender services garnered over 4,000 replies, with 10% coming from trans individuals and 5% from physicians.
John Stewart, national director of specialized commissioning at NHS England, stated: “Given that the argument is frequently quite polarized, so were the answers to the survey.
“Many people said the policy didn’t go far enough in terms of still allowing potential access [to puberty blockers] through research, and others said clearly they disagreed fundamentally and that these should be routinely available to everyone who believes they need them.”
According to the BBC, NHS England plans to launch its investigation investigating the use of puberty blockers in December 2024 but has yet to select who may participate.
