Transgender clinics for adults face inquiry into patient care

Adult transgender clinics in England are facing a Hilary Cass-style inquiry into how they treat patients after whistleblowers raised concerns about the care they provide.

- Denis Campbell

NHS England announced that it was setting up a review of how the seven specialist services operated and delivered care after past and present staff shared misgivings privately during the previous investigation.

As a first step, NHS England will send "external quality improvement experts" into each of the clinics to gather evidence about how they care for patients to help guide the inquiry's direction.

The announcement follows the publication yesterday of a review by Cass, an ex-president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, which recommended sweeping changes in the way the health service treated under-18s confused about their gender identity.

In a letter responding to Cass's report, which NHS England sent on Tuesday to the seven trusts that host adult gender dysphoria clinics (GDCs), it told them that "we will be launching a review into the operation and delivery of the adult GDCs, alongside the planned review of the adult gender dysphoria service specification".

NHS sources said the review would be comparable to Cass's inquiry, which was prompted by a lack of reliable evidence on key issues involved in the care of children and young people questioning their gender identity, such as the safety and efficacy of puberty blockers and cross-sex-masculinizing or feminising - hormones.