Closure of Tavistock gender identity clinic delayed

The closure of the only NHS gender clinic for children in England and Wales has been delayed to March 2024, about a year later than first planned.

The Gender Identity Development Service (Gids), based at London's Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, will be replaced by two regional hubs.

A southern hub will open in autumn, with the northern hub following next April.

A review said a new model was needed, after Gids was heavily criticised.

No new first patient appointments for those on the waiting list to be seen will be offered until the southern hub opens, but the Tavistock will continue providing care for the roughly 1,000 children it is currently treating.

There is currently thought to be a waiting list of several thousand for children wanting to use the service. An online support service will launch in June to provide support to those waiting to be seen.

The new hubs are being formed with partnerships managed by London's Great Ormond Street Hospital and Alder Hey Children's Hospital, in Liverpool.

Robbie de Santos of LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall said it was "pleased with the continuity of care" for existing patients "ensuring their needs are met until new services are ready" and also welcomed the regional hubs.

"However, we remain concerned about waiting times and urge NHS England to continue to communicate plans and provide further support for those on the waiting list," he said.

Transgender Trend, a UK campaign group that questions the increase in diagnoses of transgender children, said it was also concerned about the number of children on the waiting list as they may have co-existing mental health needs.

"We would like to see some temporary provision put in for children on the wait list to see a mental health professional," it said.

"CAMHS [Child and Adult Mental Health Services] therapists are already adequately trained to deal with such co-existing issues affecting children with gender-related distress."

The Tavistock clinic was rated as "inadequate" by inspectors who visited in late 2020 after the BBC's Newsnight programme reported whistleblowers' concerns.

The subsequent review called for more "holistic" care, looking at patients' overall needs.

There has been a large increase in referrals to the clinic in recent years and it has struggled to meet demand.

Many of those referred were recorded as female at birth but developed gender distress in their early teens.

In July last year, NHS England announced Gids would close in spring 2023, following the interim report by Dr Hilary Cass which called the current single service "unsustainable". NHS England said the timetable had since been revised because of the complexity involved.

More than 5,000 patients were referred to Gids in 2021-2022.